A Phase II study of gemcitabine and cisplatin in advanced biliary tract cancer.
BACKGROUND
The authors performed a Phase II study of combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin in patients with inoperable biliary tract cancer to evaluate efficacy and toxicity of this combination. In addition, the correlation between the CA 19-9 response and clinical outcome was analyzed.


METHODS
The eligibility criteria for this study were 1) histologically or cytologically confirmed inoperable biliary tract cancer in patients with metastatic or recurrent disease; 2) age between 18 and 70 years; 3) at least 1 measurable lesion according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria; 4) an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status < or = 2; 5) a life expectancy of at least 3 mos; and 6) adequate bone marrow, hepatic, and renal function. The patients received gemcitabine (1250 mg/m(2), Days 1 and 8) and cisplatin (60 mg/m(2), Day 1) every 3 weeks. Tumor response was assessed by RECIST criteria every 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Treatment was continued until progression of disease was documented.


RESULTS
Twenty-nine patients were enrolled. The median age of these patients was 52 years (range, 37 to 69 yrs), and the median ECOG performance status was 1. No complete response was observed, and 10 of 29 patients had partial responses. The overall response rate was 34.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.9-54.3) for the intent-to-treat analysis. Stable disease was observed in 4 (13.8%) patients and progressive disease in 13 (44.8%) patients. The median follow-up time was 10.0 months (95% CI, 7.2-12.8). The median time to progression (TTP) was 3.0 months (95% CI, 2.12-3.88), and the median overall survival was 11 months (95% CI, 5.49-16.5). Although these results showed a better response rate (57.1 % vs. 27.3%) and survival (12 vs. 10 mos) in patients with a decline in CA 19-9 of at least 25%, these data were statistically not significant. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the increment in CA 19-9 values and tumor progression as determined with RECIST criteria (r = 0.96, P < 0.01). However, there was no definite correlation between the CA 19-9 response and the response according to RECIST criteria (P = 0.087). National Cancer Institute (NCI) common toxicity criteria (CTC) Grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicities included neutropenia in 4 (14%) patients and anemia in 1 (3%) patient. Two of 4 patients with Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia had febrile episodes (7%) and required hospital admissions. NCI-CTC Grade 3 or 4 nonhematologic toxicity included nausea in 1 (3%) patient. There were no treatment-related deaths.


CONCLUSIONS
The combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin in inoperable biliary tract cancer was tolerable for most patients and showed modest response rates. The role of CA 19-9 monitoring as a surrogate biomarker in patients with BTC treated with gemcitabine chemotherapy should be further investigated.
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
Seung Tai
ST
Kim
Joon Oh
JO
Park
Jeeyun
J
Lee
Kyu Taek
KT
Lee
Jong Kyun
JK
Lee
Seong-Ho
SH
Choi
Jin-Seok
JS
Heo
Young Suk
YS
Park
Won Ki
WK
Kang
Keunchil
K
Park
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001661:Biliary Tract Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D002945:Cisplatin; D000093542:Gemcitabine