2022 Year in Review: Cholangiocarcinoma

Investigators found the addition of toripalimab to a gemcitabine-based chemotherapy regimen as first-line treatment of advanced biliary tract cancers demonstrated encouraging efficacy.

The phase 2 STAMP study revealed negligible differences in disease-free survival and overall survival between adjuvant gemcitabine/cisplatin versus capecitabine in lymph node–positive extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma but found increased grade 3/4 adverse events with gemcitabine/cisplatin.

A systematic review of phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for biliary tract cancers revealed quality-of-life assessments were not routinely included as trial outcomes.

Immune-related adverse events in the TOPAZ-1 trial were more common in the durvalumab arm, had a variable time to onset, and were associated with improved overall survival.

In 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the practice of medicine and dissemination of treatment advances presented in scientific forums. Adapting to the changes, societies such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, and European Society for Medical Oncology have adopted virtual and hybrid formats that deliver cutting-edge research in the advancement of oncology care. Recognizing the challenges of the virtual and hybrid formats in terms of reach and impact, we are bringing the Year in Review series that seeks to disseminate key information on treatment advances to clinicians in a timely and effective manner.

Analysis of the phase 3 ABC-06 trial revealed limited prognostic utility of the tumor marker CA19.9 after initiation of FOLFOX.

Derazantinib was found to provide clinical benefit in patients with advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring FGFR2 mutations or amplifications.

Assessment of patient-reported outcomes revealed no clinically meaningful detriment occurred with the addition of durvalumab to gemcitabine/cisplatin in advanced biliary tract cancers.

Despite differences in baseline prognostic characteristics identified by the regional analysis of the TOPAZ-1 study, outcomes between the regions were generally similar.