Chemoradiotherapy in gallbladder cancer.
Gallbladder cancer (GC) is considered a rare disease associated with a poor prognosis. Unfortunately, the low number of cases makes the performance of trials addressing the role of adjuvant, neoadjuvant, and/or palliative therapy difficult. For a long time, the majority of trials were 5-fluorouracil (5 FU)-based, and results were uniformly poor. Since the introduction of Gemcitabine, response rates of approximately 30% have been observed through the use of this drug and new approaches have been tested. In this sense, drugs such as Cisplatin and Capecitabine have been employed concurrently with gemcitabine and/or radiation. Since a recurrence pattern is both distant and local, chernoradiation seems a logical option to deal with the disease. However, at the present time, the lack of valid and scientific evidence means that most of the recommendations originate from trials dealing with other tumors, such as pancreas cancer and biliary tract cancer (BTC). The aforementioned treatment alternatives warrant further evaluation focusing on GC.
de Aretxabala
Xabier
X
Department of Surgery, Clinica Alemana, Santiago, Chile. xdearetxabala@alemana.cl
Roa
Ivan
I
Berrios
Marcela
M
Hepp
Juan
J
Gallardo
Jorge
J
Cordova
Andres
A
Roa
Juan Carlos
JC
Leon
Jorge
J
Maluenda
Fernando
F
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001661:Biliary Tract Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy; D000069287:Capecitabine; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D016019:Survival Analysis; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000069287:Capecitabine; D002945:Cisplatin; D005472:Fluorouracil; D000093542:Gemcitabine