Ghosn M, Kourie HR, El Rassy E, Chebib R, El Karak F, Hanna C, Nasr D. Optimum chemotherapy for the management of advanced biliary tract cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(14): 4121-4125 [PMID: 25892861 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i14.4121]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Marwan Ghosn, MD, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Monot St, Beirut, PO Box 166830, Beirut 2038 3054, Lebanon. mghosn.hdf@usj.edu.lb
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2015; 21(14): 4121-4125 Published online Apr 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i14.4121
Optimum chemotherapy for the management of advanced biliary tract cancer
Marwan Ghosn, Hampig Raphael Kourie, Elie El Rassy, Ralph Chebib, Fadi El Karak, Colette Hanna, Dolly Nasr
Marwan Ghosn, Hampig Raphael Kourie, Elie El Rassy, Ralph Chebib, Fadi El Karak, Colette Hanna, Dolly Nasr, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut 2038 3054, Lebanon
Author contributions: Ghosn M initiated the review; Ghosn M, Kourie HR, El Rassy E performed the review, analyzed the data and wrote first draft; Ghosn M, Kourie HR, El Rassy E, Chebib R, El Karak F, Hanna C and Nasr D reviewed and commented on the paper and provided final approval.
Conflict-of-interest: To the best of our knowledge, no conflict of interest exists.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Marwan Ghosn, MD, Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Monot St, Beirut, PO Box 166830, Beirut 2038 3054, Lebanon. mghosn.hdf@usj.edu.lb
Telephone: +961-1-3226842 Fax: +961-1-1613397
Received: November 30, 2014 Peer-review started: November 30, 2014 First decision: December 26, 2014 Revised: January 13, 2015 Accepted: February 13, 2015 Article in press: February 13, 2015 Published online: April 14, 2015 Processing time: 136 Days and 8.8 Hours
Abstract
Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are highly fatal malignancies, which are often diagnosed at an advanced stage and have relatively poor prognosis. The treatment of patients with advanced BTC is systemic, based on chemotherapy or best supportive care, depending on their performance status. Despite clinical trials studying many chemotherapeutic regimens and targeted therapies for the treatment of BTC, the standard of care for advanced BTC remains the combination of gemcitabine with cisplatin. Many new molecules targeting proliferation and survival pathways, the immune response and angiogenesis are currently undergoing phase I and II trials for the treatment of advanced BTC with promising results.
Core tip: This paper is a recent study outlining the most recent updates on the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancers. After a brief review of the different treatments used for advanced biliary tract cancers, current treatment options, novel therapies and future approaches are discussed.
