High Response Rate and Prolonged Survival of Unresectable Biliary Tract Cancer Treated With a New Combination Therapy Consisting of Intraarterial Chemotherapy Plus Radiotherapy

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology 2020-11, Vol.10, p.597813-597813
• Main Authors: Goto, Takuma, Saito, Hiroya, Sasajima, Junpei, Kawamoto, Toru, Fujinaga, Akihiro, Utsumi, Tatsuya, Yanagawa, Nubuyuki, Hiramatsu, Kazuhide, Takamura, Akio, Sato, Hiroki, Fujibayashi, Shugo, Fujiya, Mikihiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: arterial infusion chemotherapy; biliary tract cancer; chemotherapy; gallbladder cancer; Oncology; radiation therapy
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.597813

A new combination therapy consisting of intraarterial chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was demonstrated to have the potential to improve the response rate and survival time in patients with unresectable biliary tract cancer. We retrospectively investigated the effectiveness and safety of a new combination therapy consisting of intraarterial chemotherapy plus radiation therapy (AI+RT), which may have the potential to improve unresectable biliary tract cancer (BTC). We retrospectively reviewed 52 BTC cases treated with AI+RT and analyzed the anti-tumor effect, survival time and adverse events. The AI+RT regimen consisted of one-shot intraarterial chemotherapy (AI) at the first angiography session, almost 6 months of reservoir AI (5-FU and cisplatin, q/week) and external radiation with a maximum dose of 50.6 Gy. The response rate and disease control rate were high, at 40.4% and 96.2%, respectively, and the median overall and progression-free survival time were 463 and 431 days; thus, long-term survival was achieved. A univariate analysis identified 12 prognostic factors, and a performance status of 2 (hazard ratio [HR]: 4.82, p=0.02), jaundice (HR: 3.22, p