Clinical benefit of radiation therapy and metallic stenting for unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Table 2 Details of biliary drainage and anti-cancer therapy

	Patient group
	Radiotherapy	BSC	Pvalue
Cases	28	11
Biliary metallic stenting	24	10
Drainage area			0.0630
Bilateral	14	2
Unilateral	10	8
Insertion route			0.0339
Endoscopic	4	6
Percutaneous	20	4
PTBD only	3	1	> 0.9999
No need for drainage	1	0	> 0.9999
Anti-cancer therapy
Radiotherapy	28	-
Extra corporeal (50 Gy)	28	-
Intra bile duct (24 Gy)	11	-
Additional chemotherapy	16	-
Gemcitabine	1	-
S-1	6	-
5FU-based regimen	9	-

Three patients in the radiotherapy group and one in the BSC group did not receive a metallic stent but underwent PTBD alone; cholangitis occurred after endoscopic stenting, and patients were treated with PTBD. A total of 16 patients were administered additional systemic chemotherapy, with 9 receiving a 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-based regimen, 6 receiving S-1, and 1 receiving gemcitabine. PTBD: Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage; BSC: Best supportive care.