Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are highly fatal malignancies, which are often diagnosed at an advanced stage and have relatively poor prognosis. The treatment of patients with advanced BTC is systemic, based on chemotherapy or best supportive care, depending on their performance status. Despite clinical trials studying many chemotherapeutic regimens and targeted therapies for the treatment of BTC, the standard of care for advanced BTC remains the combination of gemcitabine with cisplatin. Many new molecules targeting proliferation and survival pathways, the immune response and angiogenesis are currently undergoing phase I and II trials for the treatment of advanced BTC with promising results.
Keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Chemotherapy; Novel therapies; Treatment modalities; Updates.