"Confirmed Treatment Effectiveness of Bile Duct Cancer After Surgery Following World's First Triple Drug Combination Therapy"

Bundang CHA Hospital Cancer Center Pancreatobiliary Cancer Multidisciplinary Team

Professor Jeon Hong-jae, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Cancer Center, Bundang CHA Hospital (from left), and Professor Choi Seong-hoon, Department of Surgery.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Cha University Bundang Cha Hospital announced on the 28th that Professor Jeon Hong-jae of the Hematology-Oncology Department at the Cancer Center and Professor Choi Seong-hoon of the Surgery Department confirmed the treatment effect through surgery after the world's first combined chemotherapy with three drugs?gemcitabine, cisplatin, and Abraxane?in locally advanced cholangiocarcinoma, which is difficult to operate on.

The bile duct is a tube connecting the liver to the duodenum that transports bile, and cancer occurring in this area is called cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). According to the Central Cancer Registry's 2020 report, the overall 5-year survival rate for cholangiocarcinoma is 28.8%, indicating a poor prognosis. Especially for advanced cholangiocarcinoma, surgical treatment is difficult, and the standard treatment is combined chemotherapy with two drugs, gemcitabine and cisplatin; however, even with chemotherapy, the expected survival is less than one year on average.

The multidisciplinary team for pancreaticobiliary cancer at Bundang Cha Hospital conducted combined chemotherapy with three drugs?gemcitabine, cisplatin, and Abraxane?from October 2019 to August last year on 129 patients with locally advanced cholangiocarcinoma who were inoperable. After chemotherapy, 56.6% (73 patients) underwent surgery, and complete remission (CR), where cancer cells were entirely eradicated, was confirmed in 8.2% (6 patients).

Moreover, in locally advanced cholangiocarcinoma initially deemed inoperable at diagnosis, the complete resection rate after strong chemotherapy was high at 91.8%. Typically, the complete resection rate for all cholangiocarcinoma cases is around 70%. The research team explained that the three-drug combined chemotherapy showed a higher conversion rate to surgery compared to conventional chemotherapy and had lower recurrence and surgical complication rates compared to chemoradiotherapy.

Professor Choi, who led this study, stated, "For patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma with extremely poor prognosis, the three-drug combined chemotherapy demonstrated not only increased opportunities for surgery through a high treatment response rate but also improved long-term survival, making this a very meaningful study." He added, "We hope this patient-centered multidisciplinary treatment will lead to new hope in cholangiocarcinoma treatment."

Professor Jeon, the principal investigator, said, "This result suggests the possibility of a new treatment strategy for cholangiocarcinoma and we hope it will be a starting point for changing the paradigm of cholangiocarcinoma treatment in the future."

This study was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation's Basic Research Program (Young Researcher Program) and was published in the latest issue of the surgical journal 'Surgery (IF 4.348)'.