A Phase II study of gemcitabine and cisplatin in chemotherapy-naive, unresectable gall bladder cancer

• Published in: British journal of cancer 2004-04, Vol.90 (8), p.1516-1520
• Main Authors: Doval, D C, Sekhon, J S, Gupta, S K, Fuloria, J, Shukla, V K, Gupta, S, Awasthy, B S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Cisplatin - administration & dosage; Cisplatin - adverse effects; Clinical; Deoxycytidine - administration & dosage; Deoxycytidine - adverse effects; Deoxycytidine - analogs & derivatives; Disease Progression; Drug Resistance; Epidemiology; Female; Gallbladder Neoplasms - drug therapy; Gallbladder Neoplasms - pathology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Molecular Medicine; Neoplasm Staging; Nephrology. Urinary tract diseases; Oncology; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; Tumors of the urinary system; Urinary system involvement in other diseases. Miscellaneous; Urinary tract. Prostate gland
• ISSN: 0007-0920; 1532-1827
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6601736

The primary objective of this study was to determine the response rates of the gemcitabine and cisplatin combination in unresectable gall bladder cancer patients. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the toxicity, time to progressive disease, and overall survival. Chemonaïve patients with histologically proven, unresectable bidimensionally measurable gall bladder cancer were enrolled into this study. All patients were required to have a Zubrod's performance status ⩽2, no prior radiotherapy, and adequate major organ function. Patients received gemcitabine (1000 mg m −2 intravenously over 30–60 min) on days 1 and 8, and cisplatin (70 mg m −2 intravenously over 2 h) on day 1, every 21 days. Response assessment was done by a CT scan after every other cycle of chemotherapy. In all, 30 patients were eligible for efficacy and toxicity analysis. There were four (13.3%) complete responders, seven (23.3%) partial responders, and seven (23.3%) with stable disease, with four (13.2%) patients showing disease progression. The median time to progression was 18 weeks (95% confidence interval (CI) 14–24 weeks), and the median duration of response was 13.5 weeks (range 5.5–104 weeks). The median overall survival was 20 weeks (95% CI 14–31 weeks), with 1-year survival rate of 18.6%. WHO grade 3 or 4 anaemia was seen in seven (23.3%) and four (13.3%) patients, respectively. Five (16.6%) patients each experienced grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, and grade 3 or 4 thrombocytopenia was seen in three (10%) and two (6.6%) patients, respectively. The present study shows that gemcitabine/cisplatin combination is well tolerated and active in advanced unresectable gall bladder cancer.