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Updated: Jan 18, 2026
Laparoscopic Common Bile Duct Exploration in Patients with a Previous History of Biliary Tract Surgery
Published on: February 10, 2023
Adjuvant chemotherapy in resected bile duct cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials
Carlo Messina1, Valeria Merz2, Michela Frisinghelli1
1Department of Medical Oncology, Santa Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy.
Background:
The role of adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) for resected biliary tract cancer (BTC) is still unclear and there is no specific recommendation by international guidelines.
Aim:
To perform a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to better define the clinical benefit and risks of ACT or observation in resected BTC.
Method:
A systematic literature search of Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed up to April 2019. A meta-analysis was carried out using the random effects model.
Results:
ACT provided a mild improvement in recurrence free survival (RFS) (HR:0.83, 95%CI 0.69-0.99) and no effect on overall survival (OS) (HR:0.91, 95%CI 0.75-1.09). Similarly, ACT showed no effect on OS in lymph-node positive subgroup (HR:0.84, 95% CI 0.65-1.08) and surgical margin positive subgroup (HR:0.95, 95%CI 0.69-1.31). Moreover, ACT led to a substantial increase of chemotherapy-associated adverse events (RR:3.03, 95%CI 2.22-4.15).
Conclusion:
ACT for resected BTC patients modestly improved RFS with no effect on OS and a substantial increase in chemotherapy associated AEs.
