Single-agent gemcitabine for biliary tract cancers. Study outcomes and systematic review of the literature.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the outcomes of gemcitabine-treated patients with inoperable biliary tract cancers.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study of consecutively treated 22 inoperable biliary tract cancer patients with gemcitabine (500-1,000 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, 15 every 4 weeks) as first-line, and 17 patients as second- or third-line treatment.


RESULTS
The response rate of patients treated with gemcitabine as first-line and second- or third-line treatment was 5.3 and 28.5%, respectively. The median overall survival time in the first-, and second- or third-line treatment groups was 8.3 and 17.0 months, and the 1-year survival rate was 44.0 and 50.9%, respectively. The present study also suggests the possibility that the prognosis of patients with high levels of C-reactive protein and total bilirubin, or a low level of albumin might be worse.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that the treatment of inoperable biliary tract cancers with gemcitabine is feasible. There was no difference in the response rate and overall survival between biliary tract cancer patients in the first- and second- or third-line treatment groups. We also present the systematic review of literature of the recent treatment results of biliary tract cancers treated with gemcitabine.
Kiba
Takayoshi
T
Outpatient Oncology Unit, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. takkiba@hotmail.com
Nishimura
Tsutomu
T
Matsumoto
Shigemi
S
Hatano
Etsuro
E
Mori
Akira
A
Yasumi
Shujiro
S
Doi
Ryuichiro
R
Ikai
Iwao
I
Kitano
Toshiyuki
T
Nishimura
Takafumi
T
Yoshikawa
Kiyotsugu
K
Ishiguro
Hiroshi
H
Yanagihara
Kazuhiro
K
Doi
Emiko
E
Teramukai
Satoshi
S
Fukushima
Masanori
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001661:Biliary Tract Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D003841:Deoxycytidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000093542:Gemcitabine
D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D003841:Deoxycytidine; D000093542:Gemcitabine