Chemotherapy for biliary tract cancer in Japan.

The incidence of biliary tract cancer has increased markedly in Japan over the past several decades and ranks as the sixth leading cause of cancer death. Currently, there is no standard chemotherapy for biliary tract cancer. Early phase investigation of cisplatin and cisplatin/epirubicin/5-fluorouracil yielded disappointing results in this setting. Gemcitabine is currently approved for use in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in Japan. Based on the single-agent activity of gemcitabine in biliary tract cancer in other locales combined with the drug's established safety profile, gemcitabine is currently being evaluated as single-agent therapy in the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer patients in Japan. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.