Survival of patients receiving Gemcitabine and Cisplatin for Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer

Objective: Advanced biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are typically diagnosed at late stages, necessitating systemic therapy. This study evaluated the survival outcomes of patients with advanced BTC treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin as first-line chemotherapy at our institution. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients with metastatic BTC who received gemcitabine and cisplatin as first-line chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS), defined as the time from initiation of chemotherapy to death from any cause. OS was analyzed separately for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and gallbladder carcinoma. Results: A total of 76 patients meeting the eligibility criteria were included. Of these, 40 (52.6%) were male and 36 (47.4%) were female, with a mean age of 60.4 ± 12.3 years. The mean OS was 8.7 months for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, 12.2 months for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and 9.5 months for gallbladder carcinoma. No statistically significant difference in OS was observed between the groups (p = 0.481). Conclusion: This study demonstrated mean overall survival of 8.7–12.2 months in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer treated with gemcitabine and cisplatin, with numerically longer survival in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and ECOG performance status of 2 as an independent predictor of inferior outcomes, highlighting the need for early diagnosis and tailored therapeutic strategies.