Experimental chemotherapy for xenograft cell lines of human bile duct and gall bladder cancers in nude mice.

Most biliary tract cancers are advanced and inoperable when first diagnosed. Even if surgery can be performed, the postsurgical prognosis of these diseases is poor. In the present study, we investigated effective chemotherapies for a human bile duct cancer xenograft cell line (undifferentiated carcinoma, BDC-SN) and a gall bladder cancer xenograft cell line (well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, GBC-GN), which were transplanted into nude mice. Eight anticancer agents (CDDP, 5-FU, VDS, MMC, ADR, EPIR, CQ, and VP-16) and their various combinations were evaluated at 2-4 times the clinical dose. When used singly, CDDP, 5-FU, and VDS were effective against BDC-SN, and only CDDP was effective against GBC-GN. Among the various 2-agent combinations, CDDP + 5-FU was the most effective against both BDC-SN and GBC-GN. However, 3-agent combinations consisting of CDDP + 5-FU + another agent were less effective than the CDDP + 5-FU double regimen and caused significant loss of weight as well as high mortality. These results suggest that CDDP + 5-FU may be the most useful regimen against biliary tract cancers in clinical application.