A phase II study of gemcitabine in combination with oxaliplatin as first-line chemotherapy in patients with inoperable biliary tract cancer

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine and oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy as first-line therapy in patients with inoperable biliary tract cancer (BTC). Methods The treatment of this non-randomized phase II study consisted of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m 2 intravenously (i.v.) on day 1 and oxaliplatin 85 mg/m 2 i.v. on day 2 every 2 weeks until disease progression, unaccep toxicity or patients’ refusal. Results From Sept 2006 to Oct 2007, 40 patients were enrolled. In the ITT analysis, the objective response rate was 15.0% and the disease control rate was 52.5%. The median overall survival (95% CI) was 8.5 months (6.4–10.7) and the time to progression was 4.2 months (0.5–7.9). For the 305 cycles, observed grade 3/4 toxicity was uncommon. Conclusions Gemcitabine and dose adjusted oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy had moderate anti-tumor activity and was well tolerated as a first-line treatment for patients with inoperable BTC.