Advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancer in Japan: a study using the Japan Medical Data Center payer claims database

Biliary tract cancers are aggressive, with poor prognosis. This study describes clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization in patients with metastatic biliary tract cancer in Japan. This cohort-based study collected data from the Japan Medical Data Center claims database (2014-2018). A total of 325 patients were included; 65.2% were male and the mean age was 59.2 years. A 47.6% had an Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score ≥5. Most frequent regimens were gemcitabine + cisplatin (52.9%) for first-line therapy and tegafur + gimeracil + oteracil for second-line therapy (48.6%) and third-line therapy (27.2%). Approximately 77% of patients had ≥1 hospital admission, with a median length of 57 days. This study provides insights on the characteristics and burden of metastatic biliary tract cancer in Japan, highlighting high disease burden in a younger population.