Apatinib Monotherapy as a Second-Line Treatment for Patients with Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer: a Retrospective Single-Center Observational Study

Biliary tract cancer is an aggressive gastrointestinal malignancy with a dismal prognosis. Combined chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin is the gold standard of first-line treatment for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer, while second-line therapy remains inconclusive. We aimed to evaluate the effects of apatinib as a second-line regimen in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer. We retrospectively analyzed 18 patients with advanced biliary tract cancer who failed first-line therapy with gemcitabine alone or gemcitabine combined with cisplatin and received second-line treatment with apatinib from June 2016 to October 2017. Adverse events, progression-free survival, objective response rate, and disease control rate were documented and evaluated. All patients were followed up until progression of the disease.