Background: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new combination of nab-paclitaxel plus tegafur gimeracil oteracil potassium capsule (S-1) for patients with advanced biliary tract carcinoma (BTC).
Methods: Patients were treated with nab-paclitaxel at a dose of 125 mg/m2 on day 1 and 8, and S-1, 80 to 120 mg/day on days 1-14 of a 21-day cycle. Treatments were repeated until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). The secondary endpoints were median progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs).
Results: The number of patients enrolled were 54, and 51 patients were evaluated for efficacy. A total of 14 patients achieved partial response (PR) with an ORR of 27.5%. The ORR varied by sites, with 53.8% (7/13) for gallbladder carcinoma, 18.4% (7/38) for cholangiocarcinoma. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicities were neutropenia and stomatitis. The median PFS and OS were 6.0 and 13.2 months, respectively.
Conclusions: The combination of nab-paclitaxel with S-1 showed explicit antitumor activities and favorable safety profile in advanced BTC and could serve as a potential non-platinum and -gemcitabine-based regimen.
Keywords: Biliary tract adenocarcinoma; chemotherapy; nab-paclitaxel; tegafur gimeracil oteracil potassium capsule (S-1).
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