title: Early relapse of unresectable gallbladder cancer after discontinuation of gemcitabine monotherapy administered for 5 years in a patient who had complete response to the treatment.
abstract: The tumor shrinkage effect of gemcitabine is considered to be limited in cases of advanced gallbladder cancer, and there are few reports of complete response to gemcitabine therapy in patients with this cancer. Therefore, the treatment continuation strategy in these patients, after a complete response has been achieved, still remains to be established. Here, we present the case of a 77-year-old patient with unresectable gallbladder cancer, who after showing complete response to gemcitabine monotherapy administered for 5 years, showed early relapse within only 11 months of discontinuation of the drug. Thus, it is necessary to establish a suitable treatment continuation strategy for patients who show complete response to gemcitabine treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan ; Department of Medical Oncology, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan ; Department of Gastroenterology and Neghrology, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitsunaga
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.affiliation: Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okusaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Furuse
keywords: Chemotherapy; Complete response; Early relapse; Gallbladder cancer; Gemcitabine