| Theme | Perspective for Chemotherapy in Gastrointestinal Malignancy Based on Current Evidence | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Prospects for Advanced Biliary Cancer Chemotherapy | |
| Publish Date | 2013/03 | |
| Author | Shinichi Okawa | Division of Hepato-biliary and Pancreatic Oncology, Kanagawa Cancer Center |
| [ Summary ] | The standard chemotherapy for the patients with advanced biliary cancer (ABC) has not existed for a long period of time. However, randomized controlled studies in which gemcitabine with cisplatin, were studied to compare them to gemcitabine monotherapy for ABC were performed in England and Japan. From the results of the two studies, gemcitabine plus cisplatin combined therapy has been established as the standard treatment. There is no evidence concerning second line therapy. On the other hand, S-1 is usually used for second line therapy after the failure of gemcitabine based chemotherapy. There is no evidence concerning the use of this treatment for adjuvant therapy. The results of ongoing randomized studies could provide important information on these treatment modalities. The development of new regimens is essential for treatment of ABC. | |