Biliary tract cancers: molecular heterogeneity and new treatment options
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Most patients with biliary tract cancer (BTC) are diagnosed with advanced disease, relapse rates are high in those undergoing surgery and prognosis remains poor, while the incidence is increasing. Treatment options are limited, and chemotherapy is still the standard of care in both adjuvant and advanced disease setting. In recent years, different subtypes of BTC have been defined depending on the anatomical location and genetic and/or epigenetic aberrations. Especially for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) novel therapeutic targets have been identified, including fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 gene fusions and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations, with molecularly targeted agents having shown evidence of activity in this subgroup of patients. Additionally, other pathways are being evaluated in both iCCA and other subtypes of BTC, alongside targeting of the immune microenvironment. The growing knowledge of BTC biology and molecular heterogeneity has paved the way for the development of new therapeutic approaches that will completely change the treatment paradigm for this disease in the near future. This review provides an overview of the molecular heterogeneity of BTC and summarizes new targets and emerging therapies in development. We also discuss resistance mechanisms, open issues, and future perspectives in the management of BTC.
Date Issued
2020-11-13
Date Acceptance
2020-11-11
Citation
Cancers, 2020, 12 (11), pp.1-17
ISSN
2072-6694
Publisher
MDPI AG
Start Page
1
End Page
17
Journal / Book Title
Cancers
Volume
12
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000592995200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Oncology
biliary tract cancer
cholangiocarcinoma
molecular characterization
tumor heterogeneity
FGFR
IDH
targeted agents
GROWTH-FACTOR RECEPTOR
ISOCITRATE DEHYDROGENASE 1
RANDOMIZED PHASE-III
INTRAHEPATIC CHOLANGIOCARCINOMAS
THERAPEUTIC TARGETS
TUMOR-SUPPRESSOR
DOUBLE-BLIND
OPEN-LABEL
BRAF GENE
PLUS S-1
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 3370
Date Publish Online
2020-11-13