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Treatment outcomes of gemcitabine alone versus gemcitabine plus platinum for advanced biliary tract cancer: a Korean Cancer Study Group retrospective analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

ABC-02 trial of gemcitabine plus cisplatin combination showed prolongation of overall survival in biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients. In this multicenter retrospective study, we evaluated the treatment outcome of gemcitabine combined with platinum (GP) compared to that of gemcitabine (G) alone in Korean BTC patients.

Methods

One hundred and fifty-one patients with histologically confirmed biliary tract adenocarcinoma were enrolled at nine institutions between July 2003 and May 2011, including 100 treated with GP and 51 treated with G.

Results

With a median follow-up of 7.7 months (range 0.4–38.3 months), the median overall survival (OS) was 12.4 months [95 % confidence interval (CI) 9.4–15.6 months] of the G group, which was not significantly different for the median OS of 11.0 months (95 % CI 9.7–12.3 months) of the GP group (p = 0.599). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.9 months (95 % CI 0.8–7.0 months) in the G group and 3.3 months (95 % CI 2.6–4.0 months) in the GP group (p = 0.504). Overall response rates (ORR) were 18.8 % in G group and 23.9 % in GP group (p = 0.485).

Conclusions

There was no significant difference in ORR, PFS, or OS for patients between the G group and the GP group, which was different from the ABC-02 trial. Therefore, gemcitabine monotherapy and GP combination are both effective regimens for Korean BTC patients.

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Conflict of interest

Conflict of interest relevant to this article was not reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, 156-756, Korea

    In Gyu Hwang & Joung-Soon Jang

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, 705-701, Korea

    Hong Suk Song

  3. Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University, Seoul, 137-701, Korea

    Myung Ah Lee

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 158-710, Korea

    Eun Mi Nam

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, 400-711, Korea

    Joohan Lim

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, 705-717, Korea

    Kyung Hee Lee

  7. Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, 330-721, Korea

    Kyu Taek Lee

  8. Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, 431-796, Korea

    Dae Young Zang

  9. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Chung-Ang University Hospital, 224 Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 156-755, Korea

    Joung-Soon Jang

Authors
  1. In Gyu Hwang
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  2. Hong Suk Song
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  4. Eun Mi Nam
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  5. Joohan Lim
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  6. Kyung Hee Lee
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  7. Kyu Taek Lee
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  8. Dae Young Zang
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  9. Joung-Soon Jang
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Correspondence to Joung-Soon Jang.

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Hwang, I.G., Song, H.S., Lee, M.A. et al. Treatment outcomes of gemcitabine alone versus gemcitabine plus platinum for advanced biliary tract cancer: a Korean Cancer Study Group retrospective analysis. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 74, 1291–1296 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-014-2608-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-014-2608-4

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