[Chemotherapy in cancers of the gallbladder and bile ducts]

Chemotherapy for cancers of the biliary tract remains underdeveloped, mainly because of their low incidence. There have been no well-designed chemotherapeutic trials based on a sufficient number of cases in this field. The summarized results from the literature and our experience indicate no standard regimen for chemotherapy of the biliary tract cancers. To improve chemotherapy for these cancers, the development of new active anticancer agents is essential. And, for clinical trials of chemotherapy for this relatively rare cancer, a cooperative group study is considered to be necessary to obtain meaningful results within a reasonable period.