December 2022, Vol 3, No 4

Early Detection of CCA Using Liquid Biopsies

A group of 29 expert scientists and clinicians from the world’s leading academic institutions developed potentially transformative project proposals while gathered in Las Vegas for a 2-day meeting called Cure Cholangiocarcinoma Think Tank (C²T²).

We have recently concluded the 4th Annual CCA Summit, which was held on October 13-15, 2022, in Denver, Colorado.

Encourage Your Patients to Participate!

A multidisciplinary approach to treating localized disease in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is important, and management strategies for advanced disease have the potential to be used in patients who undergo surgical resection.

Improving early return to function and minimizing complications are important considerations for patients with resectable cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), but data on minimally invasive liver surgery have been limited to single or multi-institutional retrospective studies. Of note, 2 randomized studies have shown that laparoscopic removal of colorectal liver metastases improved outcomes in complication rates, length of stay, and pain burden without compromising margin status compared with open surgery.

Historically, liver transplantation in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) was considered a contraindication at most US medical centers; however, with recent advances, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) liver intestine committee now recognizes that transplantation is indicated in hilar CCA when performed under institutional protocols with neoadjuvant chemoradiation. Maria Majella Doyle, MD, MBA, of Washington University School of Medicine and Mid America Transplant Services, discussed liver transplant in her presentation, detailing protocols and efficacy results from the Mayo Clinic and other centers in hilar CCA and beyond.

Systemic control has always been the mainstay in the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC), with several first- and second-line therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Although HER2 alterations have been reported in up to 20% of biliary tract cancers (BTCs), no HER2-targeted therapies are currently approved for the treatment of BTC.