Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with doxifluridine and paclitaxel for extrahepatic bile duct cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Bile duct cancer is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis. We sought to determine the efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with doxifluridine and paclitaxel for extrahepatic bile duct cancer.


METHODS
Nineteen patients with unresectable extrahepatic bile duct cancer received doxifluridine (600 mg/m2) daily, intravenous paclitaxel (50 mg/m) weekly (before radiotherapy), and radiotherapy of 4500 cGy for approximately 5 weeks.


RESULTS
Local response rate which reflected the reopening of occluded bile duct was 89.5% (17 out of 19). In 6 cases (31.6%), overall response, which measured the change of tumor size, was achieved with this treatment. The longest survival time was 52 months, and median survival time was 14 months. One- and 2-year survival rates were 84.2% and 31.6%, respectively. One case of gastrointestinal bleeding and 1 case of grade III leukopenia occurred during the treatment. One patient could not finish the treatment because of poor general condition.


CONCLUSIONS
Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with doxifluridine and paclitaxel seemed to produce a good clinical response without severe toxicity and improve survival rates in patients with extrahepatic bile duct cancer.
Park
Jeong Youp
JY
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Park
Seung Woo
SW
Chung
Jae Bock
JB
Seong
Jinsil
J
Kim
Kyung Sik
KS
Lee
Woo Jung
WJ
Song
Si Young
SY
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D017734:Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005467:Floxuridine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D005467:Floxuridine; D017239:Paclitaxel; C025034:doxifluridine