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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
09:56
Patient-derived Heterogeneous Xenograft Model of Pancreatic Cancer Using Zebrafish Larvae as Hosts for Comparative Drug Assessment
Published on: April 30, 2019
Gemcitabine in advanced biliary tract cancers
Lara Maria Pasetto1, Mario Rosario D'Andrea, Cristina Falci
1Istituto Oncologico Veneto, Medical Oncology Division, Via Gattamelata 64, 35128 Padova, Italy. laramary@libero.it
Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology
|December 13, 2006
Summary
Hepatobiliary cancer incidence is rising, with few treatment options for unresectable cases. This review explores palliative gemcitabine therapy for advanced biliary tract cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Hepatobiliary cancer incidence is increasing in the USA.
- Surgical resection is limited, leaving many patients with poor prognoses and few effective therapies.
- Existing chemotherapy offers limited response rates (10-20%).
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine clinical trials for locally advanced and metastatic biliary tract cancer.
- To review data on palliative therapy for biliary tract cancer using gemcitabine.
Main Methods:
- Review of clinical trials for advanced biliary tract cancer.
- Analysis of data on gemcitabine-based palliative therapies.
Main Results:
- Gemcitabine is emerging as a reference agent for biliary tract cancer due to shared origins with pancreatic cancer.
- Data on gemcitabine's efficacy in palliative settings is under review.
- Previous agents like mitomycin C, doxorubicin, and 5-fluorouracil show limited response rates.
Conclusions:
- Palliative therapy with gemcitabine, alone or in combination, is being investigated for advanced biliary tract cancer.
- Further research is needed to define gemcitabine's role in managing this rare but increasing neoplasm.
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