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TRANSCRIPT
Medical treatment for cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Jorge Adeva1, Bruno Sangro2, Maximiliano Salati3,4, Julien Edeline5, Adelaida La Casta6, Alessandro Bittoni7, Rosanna Berardi7, Jordi Bruix8 and Juan William Valle9,10
Affiliations 1 Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain2 Liver Unit and HPB Oncology Area, Clinica Universidad de Navarra-IDISNA and CIBEREHD,
Pamplona, Spain3 Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy 4 Division of Molecular Pathology, Institute of Cancer Research and Gastrointestinal Unit, Royal
Marsden Hospital, London and Sutton, UK5 Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Eugene Marquis, Rennes, France6 Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Navarra, Spain7 Clinica Oncologica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ospedali Riuniti, Ancona, Italy8 Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) group. Liver Unit. Hospital Clinic Barcelona. Centro de
Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)9 Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
10 Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
Corresponding author
J Adeva, Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain
Key words
Cholangiocarcinoma, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy
Abstract
Most of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) present with advanced (inoperable or
metastatic) disease, and relapse rates are high in those undergoing potentially-curative
resection. Previous treatment nihilism of patients with advanced disease has been replaced by
active clinical research with the advent of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and a much greater
effort at understanding molecular mechanisms underpinning CCA.
Three RCTs have recently been reported evaluating adjuvant chemotherapy following curative
resection; only one of these has the potential to change practice. The BILCAP study failed to
meet its primary endpoint by intention-to-treat analysis; however, a survival benefit was seen
in a pre-planned sensitivity analysis (predominantly adjusting for lymph nodes status). This,
along with the numerical difference in median overall survival has led to uptake of adjuvant
capecitabine by many clinicians.
In patients with advanced disease, the only level 1 data available supports the use of cisplatin
and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced disease; there is no
established second-line chemotherapy. Previous forays into targeted therapy have proven
unfruitful (namely targeting the epithelial growth factor receptor [EGFR] and vascular
endothelial growth factor [VEGF] pathways). An increasing number of genomic subtypes are
being defined; for some of these on-target therapeutic options are under active investigation.
The most developed are studies targeting IDH-1 (isocitrate dehydrogenase) mutations and
FGFR-2 (fibroblast growth factor receptor) fusions, with promising early results. Several other
pathways are under evaluation, along with early studies targeting the immune environment;
these are too premature to change practice to date. These emerging treatments are discussed.
Highlights
The standard of care in cholangiocarcinoma is based on Cisplatin – Gemcitabine
combination in the first-line setting (ABC-02) and, for some authors,
Capecitabine in the adjuvant setting (Bilcap).
Due to a better tumor molecular profiling, IDH1 mutations and FGFR2 fusions
have been positioned as the two main driver alterations in intrahepatic CCA
and are being actively explored with specific antitargeted agents. However,
many other alterations as NTRK rearrangements or BRAF mutations are also
emerging as new potential targets.
Immunotherapy is still looking for its niche in CCA. To date, MSI-H /dMMR is
the only predictive marker for selecting antiPD1 therapy.
Locoregional treatments like SIRT or SBRT are progressively testing its efficacy
and safety and may represent a new therapeutic option in a near future.
This article aims to briefly review past, present and exciting future of the
medical treatment of cholangiocarcinoma.
Introduction
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), including the intrahepatic (iCCA), perihilar (pCCA) and distal (dCCA)
subtypes, represents the second commonest type of primary liver cancer and about 3% of all
gastrointestinal malignancies. Even though CCA in Western countries is rare, incidence and
mortality rates of this disease have risen in the past few decades, in particular with an increase
of iCCA incidence (1).
Radical surgical resection is the only potentially-curative treatment for CCA. However, CCA is
usually asymptomatic in early stages and is often diagnosed when advanced (locally
advanced/unresectable or metastatic). Furthermore, it has been shown that 10% to 45% of
patients considered to have resectable disease at diagnosis are found to be unresectable
during exploratory laparotomy (2). Moreover, even though more aggressive surgical
approaches and improved radiologic techniques have improved the chances of achieving a
radical resection, recurrence rates after surgery are still high.
Systemic therapy represents the mainstay of palliative treatment for patients with advanced or
recurrent CCAs. Although CCA is traditionally considered a chemotherapy-resistant disease,
clinical trials have demonstrated that systemic chemotherapy extends survival in patients with
advanced biliary tract cancer (gallbladder cancer as well as CCA) compared with best
supportive care (3) (4) and the cisplatin/gemcitabine combination represents the current
standard of treatment, based on level 1 evidence (5) (6).
Data from meta-analysis and recent clinical trials have shown a role for chemotherapy and
chemoradiotherapy in the adjuvant setting with a survival benefit, especially in patients with
node-positive disease or with microscopically-involved margins (R1 resections).
The role of loco-regional treatments, such as transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and
selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), has increasingly been investigated for patients with
CCA over the last few years. A few studies have suggested a possible benefit of such therapies
regarding tumor progression and survival, even if limited by their retrospective nature, small
sample size and heterogeneity of chemotherapeutic agents. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA)
and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have also been shown to be feasible in the treatment of CCA.
Unfortunately, there is no level 1 evidence to date of the magnitude of benefit, if any, of these
loco-regional treatments.
Several clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of specific molecular agents aimed at various
potential targets in CCAs, such as epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) or vascular
endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) with discouraging results. Nevertheless, novel
molecular alterations have been identified in CCA by recent genetic studies, which have shed
new insights upon the pathogenic mechanisms of this disease and the signaling pathways that
drive its progression. In particular, a large comprehensive molecular profiling study of biliary
tract cancers demonstrated that nearly 40% of the patients harbor genetic alterations that are
potentially targetable (7) also showing clear differences between intra and extra-hepatic CCAs.
In this chapter, we discuss the current medical treatments for CCA in the adjuvant and
advanced settings. In addition, we present data about loco-regional therapies and
investigational treatments, such as new cytotoxic agents and combinations, targeted therapies
and immunotherapeutic approaches under evaluation in CCA to show emerging new
treatments and future directions of clinical and translational research.
Adjuvant treatment
As noted previously, surgical resection is the only potentially-curative approach in CCA.
Nevertheless, recurrence rates of CCA remain high even after radical resection, and 5-years
overall survival (OS) after surgery has been reported in the range of 25-35%. Recurrences are
predominantly intrahepatic and usually occur within 2 to 3 years post-resection. Favorable
prognosis after resection is associated with the presence of tumor-negative margins, absence
of vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis, and adequate functional liver remnant (8).
The high rates of loco-regional recurrence or distant metastases after resection provide the
rationale for adjuvant treatment in CCA. Most of the published studies on adjuvant treatment
in CCA are retrospective and include a small number of patients with a broad range of biliary
tract cancer, gallbladder cancer or periampullary tumors. Two historical randomized controlled
trials evaluated the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after resection in CCA. An early study by
Takada et al published in 2002 (9) included 508 patients with pancreatic cancer, bile duct and
periampullary cancer and gallbladder cancer (including 279 CCA patients) with stage II-IV
disease that were randomized after surgery to observation or adjuvant chemotherapy with
mitomycin-C and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Only patients with gallbladder cancer (n=112) were
found to have a significant benefit at per protocol analysis from treatment in terms of 5-years
overall survival (26% vs 14.4%, p= 0.037) and disease-free survival (20.3% vs 11.6%, p= 0.021).
No significant difference was observed in the other subgroups of patients. A second
randomized trial, the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC)-3 study, enrolled
428 patients with resected periampullary adenocarcinoma in stage I-IVa that were randomized
to observation or chemotherapy with folinic acid 20 mg/m2 followed by 5-FU 425 mg/m2
administered 1 to 5 days every 28 days or gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 once a week for 3 of every
4 weeks for 6 months. The study included 96 patients with biliary duct cancer. No significant
difference was observed in terms of overall survival, primary endpoint of the study, between
the observation group and the two chemotherapy groups. After adjusting for independent
prognostic factors (secondary analysis), adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with
significantly higher survival (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.57-0.98; p=0.03) among all patients included,
with a better safety profile for gemcitabine compared to 5-fluorouracil (10); however, the
study was underpowered to detect a survival benefit in patients with bile duct cancer with only
31-34 patients in each of the allocated treatment arms.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on adjuvant treatment in biliary tract
cancers by Horgan et al (11) evaluated data from 6712 patients in twenty studies published
between 1960 and 2010. The authors found a non-significant improvement in overall survival
with adjuvant therapy, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy,
compared with surgery alone (odds ratio [OR]: 0.74, 95% CI 0.55-1.01; p=0.06). However, after
exclusion of two registry analyses, a significant benefit for adjuvant treatment over
observation alone was demonstrated, especially for chemotherapy (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.23-0.66;
p<0.001) or chemoradiotherapy (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.38-0.99; p=0.049) compared to
radiotherapy alone. The greatest benefit was observed in patients with lymph node positive
disease or R1 resection. However, the meta-analysis presented major limitations, including
selection bias and heterogeneity of treatments performed, that precluded definitive
conclusions.
More recently, results of three phase III randomized clinical trials on adjuvant therapy have
been presented. The French study (PRODIGE 12 - ACCORD 18) has been published in 2019 (12).
This trial compared adjuvant treatment with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin for 12 cycles after
surgery to observation alone in 193 patients with biliary tract cancer (following R0 or R1
resection). About one third of patients included presented N-positive disease while R1
resection was observed in 13% of patients. Unfortunately, after a median follow up of 46.5
months, no significant difference in terms of relapse free survival (RFS) was demonstrated
between patients treated with chemotherapy and patients in the observation arm (median RFS
30.4 vs 18.5 months respectively; HR= 0.88, 95% CI 0.62.1.25; p=0.48) neither in the overall
survival (median, 75.8 months in arm A v 50.8 months in arm B; HR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.70 to 1.66;
log-rank P = 0.74).
The BILCAP study was a phase III randomized clinical trial, presented at ASCO Annual Meeting
2017, compared surgery alone versus surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with
capecitabine (1250 mg/m2 bid days 1-14 every 21 days for 8 cycles) in patients with
cholangiocarcinoma or gallbladder cancer (13). The primary endpoint was overall survival. The
study included 447 patients; 84 (19%) had intrahepatic CCA, 128 (28%) perihilar CCA, 156
(35%) extrahepatic CCA and 79 (18%) muscle-invasive gallbladder cancers. R1 resection was
reported in 38% of patients while 54% had node-positive disease. By intention-to-treat (ITT)
analysis, despite a notably prolonged OS from 36 to 52 months, the study did not meet its
primary endpoint. Based on this statistical point, some authors do not accept this regimen as a
new standard of care. However, in the prespecified sensitivity analyses adjusted by prognostic
factors (nodal status, grade of disease and gender) the study showed a statistically significant
benefit for treatment in OS (HR= 0.71, 95%CI 0.55-0.92, p<0.01). Based on these data, and
after discussing with patients, some other authors have incorporated this regimen for their
clinical practice.
The third study (BCAT) evaluated adjuvant gemcitabine (vs. observation) in 225 Japanese
patients with resected extrahepatic (perihilar and distal) CCA. There was no improvement in
OS (median OS 62.3 vs. 63.8 months; HR=1.01, 95% CI 0.70 – 1.45; p=0.964) or RFS (median
36.0 vs. 39.9 months; HR=0.93, 95% CI 0.66 – 1.32; p=0⋅693); including no differences in the
lymph node- and margin-positive subgroups (14).
The role of radiation in the adjuvant setting is also an area of active research. The SWOG0809
phase II study demonstrated that gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8) and capecitabine
(1500 mg/m2/day on days 1-14) every 21 days followed by concurrent capecitabine (1330
mg/m2/day) and radiotherapy (45 Gy to regional lymphatics and 54-59.4 Gy to tumor bed) was
well-tolerated in patients with high-risk (defined as stage pT2-4 or N+ or positive resection
margins) extrahepatic CCA or gallbladder cancer. The observed 2-year survival (65%) exceeded
the pre-set threshold of efficacy (>45%). Studies are currently under development to evaluate
the additional impact of radiotherapy over chemotherapy, particularly in patients at high risk
of recurrence (15).
Historically, the perceived wisdom was that biliary tract cancer was too rare for the
development of adequately-powered prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs),
particularly in the West. The three RCTs recently reported have, by necessity, combined
anatomical subgroups (intrahepatic, perihilar and distal CCA) +/- gallbladder cancer to be
feasible. Over the time that these studies have been performed, understanding has emerged
that there are also molecular subgroups, for example intrahepatic CCAs harboring mutations in
FGFR, which have a discrete natural behavior. This in turn may also be prognostic. Further
analysis of tissue (where available) from these studies and new clinical trials are needed to
determine the magnitude of benefit within discrete anatomical and molecular subgroups.
However, as these are rare subgroups of a rare cancer, there may still be a need for future
studies to include heterogeneous populations although subgroups carrying a known beneficial
or detrimental prognosis, which would need to be stratified for.
Advanced (unresectable and metastatic) disease treatment
First-line chemotherapy
Nearly two-thirds of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) present with advanced disease at
diagnosis and 68-86% of resected cases eventually relapse either loco-regionally or at distance
(16) (17). Chemotherapy is still the cornerstone of standard treatment for unresectable,
metastatic or recurrent disease with several classes of active cytotoxic agents, including
gemcitabine, platinum compounds and fluoropyrimidines (18).
Despite the well-known clinical and biological heterogeneity across tumors arising from
different locations of the biliary tree (intrahepatic, perihilar, distal), CCAs have been historically
grouped together in clinical trials as biliary cancers, with the inclusion also of gallbladder and
ampullary carcinoma. This makes the interpretation and generalizability of results challenging.
In the late ’90, a study first demonstrated an improvement in overall survival (OS) and quality
of life for bilio-pancreatic patients treated with chemotherapy compared with best supportive
care (BSC) (median OS 6 versus 2.5 months; p<0.01) (3). Subsequently, various
chemotherapeutic agents have been tested either alone or in combination in numerous
studies that were mainly small-sized, uncontrolled and nonrandomized phase II trials (see
Table 1 and 2). In 2007, a pooled analysis of 104 clinical trials, including 2810 treated patients,
showed better response rate (RR, 28% vs. 15.3%, p=0.000), disease control rate (DCR, 61% vs.
50.4%, p=0.000), time to progression (4.4 vs. 3.4 months, P=0.015) and a trend for improved
OS (median 9.3 vs. 7.5 months, p=0.061) for doublet chemotherapy compared with
monotherapy (19). Interestingly, the same study suggested gemcitabine combined with
cisplatin or oxaliplatin as the most active regimen based on increased RR and DCR as compared
with other combinations.
In 2010, the landmark UK ABC-02 trial established the doublet cisplatin and gemcitabine as
first-line standard of care for advanced CCA (5). In this randomized phase III study, 410
patients, among which were 241 CCAs, were randomly allocated to receive gemcitabine alone
or gemcitabine combined with cisplatin. The doublet conferred a statistically significant OS
advantage over single-agent gemcitabine (11.7 vs. 8.1 months; HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.52–0.80;
p<0.001). In addition, cisplatin plus gemcitabine was well tolerated and adverse events were
similar between treatment arms. A nonsignificant increase in neutropenia was noted in the
cisplatin plus gemcitabine arm, though this did not translate into a higher infection rate. Of
note, grade 3-4 liver function test derangements were more frequently observed in the
gemcitabine-only group (27.1% vs. 16.7%, p=0.01), probably reflecting an inferior disease
control. Interestingly, the magnitude of benefit of combination chemotherapy was consistent
across the anatomical subgroups.
Similar results were mirrored for the Asian population in the Japanese randomized phase II
BT22 study (median OS 11.2 vs 7.7 months, HR, 0.69) (6). Of note, retrospective feasibility and
safety data are available that support the combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine also in fit
patients with persistent jaundice related to biliary tract obstruction from luminal disease (but
not in those with jaundice secondary to extensive metastatic replacement of the liver) (20).
Several attempts have been made over time to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy by using
new cytotoxics or adding of a third drug to the reference doublet. Regimens containing
taxanes (docetaxel and paclitaxel) and irinotecan displayed significantly lower RR and DCR and
were therefore dismissed (21). The GEMOX regimen, with the substitution of cisplatin by
oxaliplatin, can represent a valuable alternative as first-line option in patient unfit or unwilling
to cisplatin based on promising results from a non-randomized phase II study (22).
The limited survival gain provided by first-line chemotherapy and its palliative intent highlights
the need for factors aiding in treatment selection. Several parameters have been suggested to
have prognostic value in advanced CCA treated with first-line chemotherapy. Clinical factors
such as Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS), gender, disease
status, liver metastasis, and number of metastatic sites together with biochemical parameters
(i.e. hemoglobin, bilirubin, white blood count, neutrophils, alkaline phosphatase,
neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and derived neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio) have been identified as
independent risk factors for OS (23) (24) (25) (26). Although these represent potentially useful
tools to improve patients’ risk stratification both in daily practice and clinical trials, they have
limited accuracy in predicting prognosis and no role as predictive factors thus highlighting the
urgent need for novel molecular biomarkers.
Beyond first-line
Currently, no second-line treatment has shown superiority over BSC in a prospective
randomized clinical trial, thus the role of chemotherapy for patients failing first-line is still
unclear. Moreover, the rapid deterioration of patients’ PS on progression usually precludes
further lines of treatment. Nonetheless, 20-40% of patients are offered second-line
chemotherapy in daily practice based on a small number of prospective phase II studies and
retrospective analyses suggesting a benefit for selected patient populations. A systematic
literature review of these studies reported a mean OS of 7.2 months, mean PFS of 3.2 months,
RR of 7.7 %, and DCR of 49.5%, for patients receiving second-line chemotherapy (27) . Patients
with good ECOG PS (0-1), PFS to first-line >6 months, CA19.9 <152 U/ml and those who
underwent previous surgery were more likely to benefit from salvage chemotherapy (28).
Regarding the most appropriate regimen in this setting, a fluoropyrimidine-based schedule is
considered a reasonable choice after cisplatin plus gemcitabine first-line treatment. It is
noteworthy mentioning that the poor level of evidence and the marked heterogeneity across
studies are important drawbacks and well-designed prospective trials are needed.
Recently, a randomized phase II study reported improved 9-month PFS for the XELIRI regimen
(capecitabine and irinotecan) over single agent irinotecan (60.9% vs. 32.0%, P=0.045)) with an
acceptable safety profile (29).
The ABC-06 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01926236) is an ongoing randomized phase III trial
aimed at ascertaining the value of second-line chemotherapy in BTC, including CCA. In this
study, the combination of 5-FU, folinic acid and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX) is compared to active
symptom control after failure of first-line cisplatin and gemcitabine treatment. The study met
its recruitment target of 162 patients at the beginning of 2018 and its results are highly
anticipated. Beyond second-line, data so far available are even more scarce regarding safety
and efficacy of chemotherapy. Although some reports from small studies suggest activity of
agents such irinotecan and nab-paclitaxel in heavily pretreated patients (30)(31), there is no
evidence base for recommending routine use of later lines in CCA.
Investigational treatments
a. New cytotoxics agents and combinations
The modest survival benefits observed with currently-available treatment options highlight the
need for new effective agents and combinations for patients with CCA.
Acelarin is a first-in-class nucleotide analogue; in contrast to gemcitabine, through
phosphoramidation, it is independent of the membrane transporter (human equilibrative
transporter-1 (hENT-1) and is not subject to metabolism by cytidine deaminase, thereby
achieving reduced toxic metabolites. In a phase I study, the recommended dose for phase II
was determined at 825 mg/m2 on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle; levels of the active
intracellular metabolite, difluoro-deoxycytidine triphosphate (dFdCTP), were 217-times greater
than those seen with equimolar doses of gemcitabine (32). A phase Ib study of Acelarin in
combination with cisplatin (ABC-08, Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02351765) has completed accrual;
the recommended dose was 625 mg/m2 with cisplatin 25 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day
cycle. Preliminary results show acceptable toxicity and, with the limitation of a small sample
size, an encouraging response rate of 50% (7/14 patients) (33). A phase III study is in
development to evaluate this combination against cisplatin and gemcitabine.
Given the favorable results of intensification of chemotherapy seen in pancreatic cancer with
FOLFIRINOX (34), a number of investigators have studied triple chemotherapy combinations.
An initial phase I study with modified (m)FOLFIRINOX in patients with gastrointestinal
malignancies concluded that this regimen was too toxic, even when making irinotecan dose
adjustments for UGT1A1 polymorphisms. Six of 28 (21%) patients with biliary tract cancer had
a partial response, which did not appear to incrementally improve on historical data with
cisplatin and gemcitabine (35). A phase III French study (AMEBICA) is ongoing comparing
mFOLFIRINOX vs. cisplatin and gemcitabine (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02591030).
An early parallel phase II study reported in 2009 did not find an appreciable improvement in
response rate (19% and 23%) or overall survival (10.0 months and 9.9 months, for
cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer, respectively) from the triplet of oxaliplatin,
gemcitabine and 5-FU; there was, as anticipated, a marked increase in toxicity (36).
Conversely, a more recent phase II study of cisplatin 35 mg/m2, gemcitabine 100 mg/m2 and 5-
FU 2400 mg/m2 48-hour infusion, every 14 days, was associated with a response rate of 37.5%
and median OS of 15.6 months among the 8 (of 39) patients with biliary tract cancer (37),
although this improvement would need to be confirmed in a prospective randomized study.
Based on a promising median overall survival (16.2 months) seen in a phase II Japanese study
with cisplatin, gemcitabine and the oral fluoropyrimidine, S1 (38), a phase III study was
performed of this combination vs. cisplatin and gemcitabine. The study, presented at ASCO
2018, met its primary end-point with a hazard ratio of 0.791 (stratified log-rank one-sided p-
value 0.046, 95% CI 0.628 – 0.996), although the improvement in median OS was small (12.6 to
13.5 months) (39) and the clinical significance is, therefore, questionable.
Promising preliminary data have been reported on the safety and efficacy of cisplatin,
gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel combination: this triplet produced a RR of 32.2% and a DCR of
82.3% in a phase II trial. Moreover, mPFS and 1-year OS were 11.4 months and 66.7%, while
the mOS was not reached (estimated to be superior to 20 months). Dose reductions to the
schedule were required due to grade 3-4 hematological toxicities; this regimen is undergoing
prospective evaluation in a randomized controlled study.
In the development of novel combinations, particularly with dose-intensification, the trade-off
between enhanced efficacy, toxicity and impact on quality of life needs careful evaluation. For
example, in patients with disease which could be rendered resectable, a toxic regimen of short
duration aiming to achieve maximum response may be appropriate. In patients with
widespread metastatic disease, a sequenced approach of active agents may be preferable,
although this is subject to prospective evaluation in clinical trials with a focus on impact on
quality of life.
b. Targeting angiogenesis
Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are crucial in the carcinogenesis of BTCs. Several studies
have confirmed an overexpression of molecules involved in the formation of new vessels on
tumor samples and a correlation with worse prognosis. Alterations of genes involved in the
angiogenic process, such as FGFR2, characterize these tumors and could interfere with the
interplay between VEGF, TSP-1 (trombospondin) and Ang-1/2 (angiopoietin). Based on these
data there have been preclinical and phase I and II trials targeting VEFG pathway with
antibodies (bevacizumab, ramucirumab, aflibercept), TKIs (vandetanib, sorafenib, sunitinib,
cediranib, regorafenib, selumetinib) and others (curcumin, tymoquinone), alone or in
combination with chemotherapy or other drugs. Results have been contrasting due to
unknown drug resistance mechanisms. Moreover, phase I and II trials did not lead to
encouraging results (see table 3) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51).
Clinical trials on selected subgroups identified by predictive factors are strongly needed to
define setting of patients who might benefit more from antiangiogenic agents. (52)
c. EGFR / HER2i
EGFR family receptor plays a key role in cell cycle, migration and angiogenesis (53) and the
overexpression has been implicated in the carcinogenesis of cholangiocarcinoma. High levels
of expression have been documented in many cases of cholangiocarcinoma, particularly in the
intrahepatic type (38-100 %) (54).
Several combinations of drugs have been tested to evaluate the effectiveness of target
therapy, but unfortunately, both the EGFR inhibitor and the combination of anti-EGFR
antibody with chemotherapy failed to produce promising results in several trials in patients
with advanced BTCs (55) (56) (57) (58). Recently, the PICCA study confirmed these data,
showing that Panitumumab in combination with chemotherapy does not improve neither ORR,
PFS and OS in patients with KRAS wild-type, advanced biliary cancer (59).
Despite this, recent data have demonstrated that CART-EGFR cell therapy, in the EGFR-positive
advanced unresectable cholangiocarcinoma, is safe. Indeed, in a phase I study, 19 patients (14
cholangiocarcinomas and 5 gallbladder carcinomas) were treated with CART-EGFR within 6
months after conditioning treatment with nab-paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide. Out of 17
evaluable patients, 1 achieved complete response and 10 achieved stable disease. The median
progression-free survival was 4 months (range, 2.5-22 months) from the first cycle of
treatment (60).
Regarding HER2, gene overexpression or amplification is observed in 5-25% of extrahepatic
bile duct carcinomas; despite this, data summarized in a recently published retrospective
review would not show any clinically meaningful response in patients with HER2+
cholangiocarcinoma treated with trastuzumab (60).
There are currently ongoing trials aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the target therapy anti
HER2 (NCT02999672, NCT02836847).
d. IDH-pathway
Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) belongs to the Krebs Cycle; this enzyme converts isocitrate to
alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG). Various enzymes such as DNA and histone modifiers require AKG as
a cofactor. Mutations in IDH1 and IDH2 genes occur in about 15-20% of iCCA with R132 and
R172 as the most frequently mutated codons, respectively (61). Although the prognostic role
of this mutation is not clear, it results in a gain of function (62). Mutated IDH (mIDH) induces
the conversion of AKG to 2-OH-glutarate (2-HG) which has an oncogenic role by inhibiting the
enzymes associated with AKG resulting in the dysregulation of gene expression. This is the
rationale for clinical development of IDH inhibitors. AG120 (ivosidenib) is a first-in-class,
potent, oral inhibitor of the mIDH1 enzyme. In a phase 1-2 trial, 73 IDH1-mutated
cholangiocarcinoma patients were treated with ivosidenib achieving an interesting 12-month
PFS of 20.7% (63). This has led to the ClarIDHy trial, a phase III trial randomising pre-treated CC
patients with IDH1 mutation to ivosidenib or placebo (NCT02989857). Recruitment has been
recently completed and results are awaited. Other IDH1 inhibitors are being already tested in
clinical trials as BAY143602 (NCT02746081). Other agents of potential interest in patients with
mIDH would be OxFos inhibitors, as an association has been reported between mIDH and a
signature with high mitochondrial but low chromatin remodelling expression in the CC-TCGA
Project (64). Finally, it has been shown in vitro models that 2-HG sensitises CC to PARPi (65); a
clinical trial with olaparib in mIDH CC is ongoing (NCT03212274).
e. FGFR-2 pathway
Several studies have consistently identified fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) fusions in
patients with, predominantly, iCCA. The presence of such fusions also appears to carry a more
favorable prognosis. A few therapies have rapidly emerged targeting FGFR-fusions, including
BGJ398 (infigratinib; QED Therapeutics), INCB54828 (pemigatinib; Incyte), BAY1163877
(Bayer), TAS-120 (Taiho) and ARQ-087 (derazantinib; Arqule).
The first of these studies to be published was a phase II study with BGJ398 in patients
previously-treated with chemotherapy; although the study included patients with FGFR2
fusions (n = 48), mutations (n = 8), or amplifications (n = 3), all patients with a radiological
response to treatment harbored FGFR2 fusions. In these patients, the ORR was 18.8%, DCR
83.3% and median PFS 5.8 months (95% CI 4.3 – 7.6 months). Hyperphosphatemia was the
commonest adverse event (72.1% all grades; 16.4% grade 3-4); other grade 3-4 toxicities
included stomatitis and plantar-palmar erythrodysesthesia in 6.6% and 4.9% of patients,
respectively (66). A number of patients treated with BGJ398 were identified (though
sequencing of tumor tissue and circulating-free DNA) to develop secondary polyclonal
mutations in the FGFR2 kinase domain (including the gatekeeper mutation FGFR2V564F),
suggesting the emergence of a resistance mechanism (67).
A similar level of activity has been seen in another recently-published phase II study with
derazantinib (ARQ 087), an orally bioavailable, multi-kinase inhibitor with potent pan-FGFR
activity, in 29 FGFR-fusion positive patients (2 of these were treatment-naïve). The ORR was
20.7%, DCR 82.7%, median PFS 5.7 months (95%- CI: 4.04 - 9.2 months). Most common
adverse events (all grades) were fatigue (69.0%), eye toxicity (41.4%), and hyperphosphatemia
(75.9%) (68). A pivotal trial of derazantinib in iCCA is ongoing (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03230318).
Interim analyses results are available for two additional phase II studies. TAS-120 has been
reported to have a confirmed ORR of 25% and a DCR of 78.6% among 28 patients with FGFR
gene fusions, including some patients who had previously received an FGFR inhibitor (69). A
pivotal study is in set-up. In a separate study, patients treated with INCB054828 (pemigatinib);
the ORR was 40.4%; although this is numerically higher, the evaluable population was limited
to patients with ≥8 months follow-up (70). A pivotal study in iCCA is recruiting
(Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03656536).
FGFR-fusions appear to predict for response to an FGFR inhibitor, but not all patients respond;
understanding the profile of responding (vs. non-responding) patients, the emergence of
resistance and the role of other FGFR aberrations are under active evaluation.
f. RAFi, MEKi
BRAF mutations are more common in iCCA than extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma or
gallbladder cancer. The frequency of BRAF mutations in iCCA have ranged between 1% to 22%
among various cases series or population studies. The frequency appears to be
underestimated when assessed by immunohistochemistry studies in comparison to PCR.
Irrespective of the true frequency, BRAF mutant cholangiocarcinoma appears to be a distinct
molecular subtype of biliary cancers that can be associated with aggressive behaviour and
chemotherapy resistance.
The targeting of this subgroup of patients with single agent BRAF inhibitors has been
associated with modest clinical responses and short duration of disease control. In a study by
Hyman et al., single agent vemurafenib was associated with a 12% objective response rate in
BRAF mutant cholangiocarcinoma (1 out of 8 patients had PR). In view of improved efficacy of
dual BRAF and MEK inhibition in melanoma and colorectal cancer, some patients with BRAF
mutant ICC have been treated with a combination of dabrafenib and trametinib. It is worthy to
mention the ROAR study (NCT02034110), a basket trial involving different cohorts with BRAF
V600E mutation treated with the dabra/trame combination. Preliminary results have been
very recently presented. In the biliary cancer cohort (35 patients, 80% pre-treated with more
than 2 lines of chemotherapy) a response rate of 42% has been described with a median
overall of 11.7 months (71). Additional data from this and other on-going prospective clinical
trials (NCT01713972, NCT01902173) will help to confirm the activity of dual MEK/BRAF
inhibition as a standard approach in BRAF-mutant cholangiocarcinoma (72).
g. c-METi
c-MET is a proto-oncogene that encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor binding the hepatocyte
growth factor (HGF). The complex MET-HGF has a key role in cellular proliferation, resistance
to apoptosis, increased cell motility, and angiogenesis. The over-expression of MET is present
in about 34% biliary tract cancers, regardless of the tumor site (73) (74); high levels of MET
seem to correlate with a shorter disease-free survival and are associated with older patient
age, presence of hepatolithiasis, higher cancer stage, and larger primary tumor size (75).
Some trials have evaluated the efficacy of MET-inhibitors in solid tumors with limited results.
In a phase I study, patients with solid tumors (including CCA) were treated with tivantinib (oral
MET-inhibitor) in combination with gemcitabine; twenty-nine patients were treated and the
20% achieved a partial response and 46% had stable disease. (76)
More recently cabozantinib was been evaluated in a Phase 2 study in patients with advanced
CCA, after progression on first or second line chemotherapy and showed limited activity and
significant toxicity (77).
Some positive data were obtained in vitro with MET-RON dual inhibition (78).
h. Pi3Ki / AKTi / mTORi
Some studies show that somatic PIK3CA mutations contribute to the frequent activation of the
PI3K/AKT pathway in BTC. But phase II trials with AKT selective inhibitors as MK-2206 have
been disappointing. A first-line phase II study with everolimus showed evidence of antitumor
activity with 14 out of 27 patients (56%, 95%-CI 35–76), achieving tumour control at 12 weeks.
Median PFS was 6.0 months (95%-CI 2.1–11.2) and median OS 9.5 months (95%-CI 5.5–16.6).
KRAS mutational status and basal p-AKT might be associated with resistance to treatment. A
phase II trial using a PI3K inhibitor, copanlisib (BAY 80-6946) in first-line in combination with
chemotherapy is ongoing (NCT02631590). (79)
i. NTRKi
Recently, larotrectinib has received FDA agnostic tumour approval for TRK fusion cancer. This
drug is a selective TRK inhibitor, and has demonstrated an overall response rate (ORR) of 75%
with a favourable safety profile (80). Although just 2 CCA cases were included in this trial, and
NTRK fusion rate reported in CCA is less than 5%, testing patients for this aberration when drug
is available seems reasonable.
j. BETi / HDACi
The bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) domain family of proteins binds to acetylated
lysines on histones and regulates gene transcription. Recently, BET inhibitors (BETi) have been
developed as potent anticancer drugs by the inhibition of MYC transcription (81). This could
represent an active therapy in CCA patients since upregulation of MYC seems to be as a result
of the recurrent mutations in the SWI/SNF chromatin-modifying complex components (as
ARID1A/B/2, PBRM1) enzymes and in the TGFbeta genes which are commonly found in CCA
(7).
On the other hand, recurrent aberrations both in the chromatin-modifiers and in the
deubiquiting enzyme BAP1, as well as epigenetic alterations in DNA/Histone
me/demethylation enzymes like EZH2 and TET1, are associated in CCA with a DNA
hypermethylation phenotype. At least one DNA hypermethylation promoter of a tumour
suppressor gene is present in 85% cases (82). Therefore, Hypomethylating Agents as
azacytidine or EZH2 inhibitors (e.g., tazemetostat) could represent an attractive strategy in this
subgroup.
k. BRCAi
BRCA1/2 mutations occur at 1–7% across BTCs (most frequently BRCA2 in GBC). BRCA1 and
BRCA2 cholangiocarcinoma mutated cases with prolonged PFS to PARP inhibitors have been
reported (83) (84). Finding of this mutation because of a suspicious family history but also
because of the use of molecular panels might be beneficial to these patients and their family
members, enabling assessment of their cancer development risk and the effectiveness of new
anti-cancer drugs as PARPi but also of the traditional platine agents as happens in other solid
tumours. Other predictive responsive factors to PPARi such ARID1A mutation, common in CCA,
have also been suggested (85).
l. Immunotherapy: checkpoint modulators (CTLA4, PD1/PDL1, CD40) and adoptive cell
therapy
Antibodies blocking the interaction of PD-1 and CTLA-4 with their specific ligands have been
successful in the treatment of several hematological and solid malignancies and their
evaluation is also emerging in CCA (86). PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 checkpoints are negative
regulators of local inflammatory response against tumor cells (87). Discovering specific
histological and molecular biomarkers predictive of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors
(ICI) is the current challenge (86). The immunohistochemical expression of PD-L1 is considered
a biomarker associated with response to anti PD-L1 antibodies and a better OS in a number of
tumour types (88) (89) (90). PD-L1 may be expressed not only on tumor cells, but also on
immune infiltrating cells (88). In the KEYNOTE-028 study, a multicohort phase 1b trial of
pembrolizumab monotherapy, 89 patients with biliary tract cancer were evaluated for PD-L1
expression, 37 (42%) had PD-L1-positive tumors; 24 (65%) were enrolled and treated with
pembrolizumab with promising results: 4 patients (17%) had a partial response and 4 (17%)
had stable disease (91) (86). Durable responses were obtained with pembrolizumab in patients
with advanced biliary tract cancer expressing PD-L1 (88) (92)(93). KEYNOTE-158, a phase II
basket trial of pembrolizumab in cancer patients including CCA with disease progression on
standard therapy, is ongoing. Another phase II trial in progress is investigating durvalumab
(anti PD-L1) plus tremelimumab (anti-CTLA-4) with or without paclitaxel in patients with
advanced CCA after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy (Immuno-Bil). A promising
predictive biomarker of response to ICI is tumor mutational burden (TMB). Tumors with higher
TMB have more neoantigens that can be recognized by the immune system (94) and, as the
TMB increases, PFS rates and ORRs may improve in cancer patients treated with ICI (95)
A randomized, single-centre, phase II study has looked at the association of lenvatinib with
pembrolizumab or nivolumab. Fourteen patients with CCA were enrolled; 450 cancer genes,
TMB and microsatellite instability (MSI) status were analyzed. This study indicates that
combining lenvatinib with PD-1 inhibitors is a promising strategy in advanced CCA with high
TMB (96). Tumours associated with DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) or high MSI (MSI-
H) accumulate many DNA mutations and have a high level of mutation-associated neoantigens,
recognized by immune cells, and potentially candidate for treatment with ICI [18]. MSI has
been found in approximately 3% of biliary tract cancers. Pembrolizumab has been approved for
patients with advanced disease showing MSI/dMMR regardless of tumor origin. In a phase II
trial investigating early efficacy in such patients, 4 patients with CCA were enrolled, with one
documented CR and three patients with SD (97). Tumor microenvironment seems implicated in
the response to ICI and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have a major role in this. A recent
study analyzed the correlation in 39 cancer patients between the concentration of TILs in the
tumor environment and the response to ICI and demonstrated that quantifying TILs is a
prescreening strategy that may help to select patients for ICI therapy in early clinical trials (98).
An emerging immunological treatment strategy includes Adoptive Cell therapy (ACT). Patient’s
T-cells are extracted from a tumour biopsy or peripheral blood, modified, expanded in vitro,
and then reinfused into the patient after host lymphodepletion. In BTC, the evidence for use of
ACT is limited to case reports or small case series of patients treated in single-arm phase II
studies (99). Another potential target for cancer immunotherapy is CD40, a costimulatory
protein found on antigen presenting cells, required for their activation and for presenting the
antigens to T-cells. Agonistic anti-CD40 has been shown to induce T-cell antitumor responses in
mice (100) (101), which encourages its clinical testing as a cancer treatment (102) (49).
Locoregional treatments
A high proportion of patients with cholangiocarcinoma have disease confined to the liver. This
may be the case for tumor at a locally-advanced stage, non-resectable due to surgical
difficulties (mainly vascular or biliary extension of the tumor, as frequently seen in both
intrahepatic and perihilar CCA), or with a metastatic extension or recurrence involving only the
liver. Liver locoregional treatments have thus been studied mostly for iCCA.
a. Intra-arterial hepatic therapy
Intra-arterial hepatic therapy refers to treatments delivered through the hepatic arteries to
improve the access to the tumor due to the preferential arterial blood supply of liver tumors.
Three main approaches have been tested in CCA:
- Hepatic Artery Infusion (HAI): consists of the injection of chemotherapeutic agents
directly into the hepatic artery, usually in repeated cycles similar to systemic
chemotherapy.
- Trans-arterial Chemo-embolization (TACE): consists of the injection of
chemotherapeutic agents mixed the oily contrast-agent lipiodol or loaded into drug-
eluting beads, followed by embolic agents (gelatin-sponge or calibrated beads).
- Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT): also known as radioembolization, this
consists of the injection of a radio-isotope (usually Yttrium-90) loaded on to glass or
resin microspheres.
Selected studies of the 3 strategies are summarized in Table 3, focusing on prospective or
comparative studies when available (103) (104) (105) (89) (106) (107) (108) (109) (110) (111)
(112) (113) (114) (115) (116)(117) (118). The analysis is a difficult one because very few
studies are prospective or comparative, while most have a low number of patients and
describe single-center experience. Moreover, there is a high heterogeneity in terms of patient
population within and across studies that limits the interpretability of data. For example, a
meta-analysis compared patients treated with HAI mostly as first-line and patients receiving
SIRT mostly when they were chemo-refractory (118). Moreover, the outcomes of patients with
locally-advanced iCCA receiving first-line chemotherapy may already be better than those of
all-comers with advanced biliary tract cancers, and this needs to be taken into account when
interpreting historical data (119).
The available evidence clearly indicates some activity of intra-arterial hepatic therapy in iCCA
at least in terms of response rate (120). Several studies have reported cases of patients with
initially unresectable disease that could be downstaged to surgery following treatment,
especially with SIRT. These observations have supported the incorporation of intra-arterial
therapies in the treatment algorithms of scientific societies (121) (122), either as first-line or in
chemo-refractory patients.
Unquestionably, multicenter prospective randomized studies are required to assess the benefit
of intra-arterial hepatic therapies better in iCCA. The SIRCCA randomized phase II trial
(clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02807181) is currently randomizing patients with non-
resectable iCCA to either chemotherapy alone or SIRT followed by chemotherapy. Another
study is comparing SIRT with transarterial chemoembolization (123). The results of these
studies will help to draw appropriate conclusions.
b. External beam radiation therapy
External beam radiation therapy has been studied in the context of adjuvant treatment, mostly
in retrospective studies in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. A meta-analysis suggested that
the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy might be useful (11). However, only one
prospective single-arm trial is available (15), discussed in the adjuvant section. Adjuvant
radiation is not recommended by most European societies but it is included among available
options in the American National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines (122). In the
context of locally-advanced disease, the FFCD 9904 phase 3 trial closed early due to slow
accrual, but worse results were reported for chemo-radiotherapy than for systemic
chemotherapy (124). New radiation techniques have been applied in locally-advanced iCCA
that may improve the results (125). In summary, external beam radiation therapy has not yet
proven to be beneficial and more clinical trials are needed.
c. Photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) refers to the administration of a photosensitizing drug that
accumulates in tumor cells followed by the exposition to laser light. In cholangiocarcinoma, the
technique has been mostly studied in unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma, using either
endoscopic or percutaneous approaches, with initial promising results (126). Many
retrospective single-center studies and a meta-analysis suggested a benefit from this
technique, both in terms of stent patency and overall survival (127). However, prospective
randomized studies failed to demonstrate any such benefit. In a randomized phase 2 study,
Park et al compared PDT with or without chemotherapy using S1 in 43 patients. The PDT-only
arm had clearly lower PFS (2 vs 10 months, p=0.009) and OS (8 vs 17 months, p=0.005),
suggesting that PDT has little added value over chemotherapy (128). More importantly, the
larger PHOTOSTENT-02 phase 3 trial aimed to demonstrate an OS improvement with PDT; the
study randomized 92 patients between stenting combined with PDT vs stenting alone. The
median OS was significantly lower in the PDT arm (6.2 vs 9.8 months) (129). PDT has not been
incorporated into guidelines, and cannot be recommended outside clinical trials (122).
d. Percutaneous thermal ablation
Following the experience in hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastasis from colorectal
cancer, percutaneous thermal ablation has also been used to treat primary or relapsing ICC.
Most of the experience comes from retrospective analysis of single center cohorts and there
are no prospective randomized controlled trials. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is the most
frequently used modality, although microwave ablation has also been used (130).
A meta-analysis including 7 studies that comprised 84 patients and 133 tumors treated with
RFA has reported 3- and 5-year overall survival rates of 47 % and 24%, respectively, while
major complications were reported in 3.8% of patients (131). As expected, lack of technical
success and technical effectiveness occur typically in patients with tumors larger than 3-4 cm
(132) (133). In the same line, one study showed a significantly higher local progression-free
survival for patients with tumors < 1.5 cm compared with those having tumors ≥ 1.5 cm (134).
Accordingly, percutaneous thermal ablation could be an option for those rare selected patients
with small (tumor diameter ≤ 3 cm) in whom resection is contraindicated based on the lack of
an adequate liver functional reserve due to underlying cirrhosis, or because of comorbidities.
Conclusion
The combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine in the first-line setting of advanced
cholangiocarcinoma has been the only standard treatment option with grade 1 evidence for
many years, with no other options available with proven benefit either in the second-line or in
the adjuvant settings. Various other chemotherapy regimens have been used in this context
with low levels of evidence.
Clinical research in CCA has traditionally been very limited. The low incidence compared to
other digestive tumors, heterogeneity of the disease, poor patient’s PS and recurrent episodes
of biliary tract complications (requiring palliative but invasive procedures) are some of the
reasons that have limited the scientific development in this field. However, this scenario is
notably changing in the last few years. First, the incidence is slightly increasing in part due to
advances in technology (i.e. NGS.) that have enabled more accurate diagnosis of patients with
“liver metastases from unknown primary” into CCAs. In addition, advances in surgical and
locoregional techniques have substantially reduced procedure morbidities and are also able to
solve intercurrent biliary complications even after multiple procedures, allowing patients to
reach systemic therapy with improved performance status and organ function. Lastly, the
development of CCA reference teams connected by working networks, is allowing patients to
access these highly-specialized centers to provide them optimal multidisciplinary care.
Very recently, adjuvant capecitabine has shown a substantial numerical improvement in OS in
the BILCAP phase III trial. Although this did not reach statistical significance in the ITT
population, it has been accepted as standard of care in the adjuvant setting by many clinicians
based on the magnitude of the effect and significance in the sensitivity analysis. Results from
the randomized ATICCA-1 trial comparing capecitabine vs cisplatin and gemcitabine in this
setting are awaited with great interest.
Locoregional active treatments as SIRT or SBRT are challenging to test in clinical trials.
However, some authors are progressively testing its efficacy and safety in these patients.
Results from the ABC-07 trial assessing SBRT, and the SIRCCA study evaluating SIRT are eagerly
awaited. Although they are not standard yet, they may represent a new therapeutic option in
specific circumstances when performed by experts in the field.
A better understanding of the molecular biology of cholangiocarcinoma has prompted, in the
last few years, a notable increase in the development of preclinical and clinical research.
Previous attempts to improve outcomes both in survival and tolerability by using new targeted
agents such as anti-EGFR or anti-VEGFR have failed, although these trials were conducted in
molecularly-unselected patient populations. Although there are many potential targets in the
scope which have been mentioned along the chapter, it is worth mentioning the IDH1 and
FGFR2 pathways. Both are being tested with specific inhibitors in phase III trials in selected
populations (tumors with IDH1 mutations or FGFR2 fusions, respectively). Other targeted
agents are in different stages of clinical development and are being tested both in specific
subpopulations such as anti-HER2, NTRK or PARP inhibitors, as well as in an “all commers”
fashion such as pan-EGFR inhibitors, BET inhibitors, HDACi or cell cycle inhibitors.
Immunotherapy, which is being incorporated in many solid tumors, is still looking for its niche
in CCA. To date, only the MSI biomarker can justify the use of an anti-PD1 therapy. PDL1
expression has been reported in up to 42% and could be potentially explored as a predictive
biomarker in the future. Combination strategies of immunotherapy with other anticancer
treatments such as chemotherapy are also being investigated. In conclusion, we are assisting
to a new era in the medical management of cholangiocarcinoma. Results of these
investigations are awaited and hopefully will increase the number of medical treatment
options and the prognosis and quality of life of patients with cholangiocarcinoma.
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