Introduction: Advanced biliary tract carcinoma (BTC) has a poor prognosis and few treatment options. We compared the efficacy of the PD-1 monoclonal antibody (PD-1-mAb) combined regimens with the standard chemotherapy in the first-line and second-line treatment of advanced BTC.
Methods: We retrospectively assessed the patients with advanced BTC, who received treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University and the Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center. The patients were treated with PD-1-mAb combined regimens or standard chemotherapy at the first line or treated with PD-1-mAb combined regimens or systematic therapy at the second line. Further subgroup analyses were assessed to identify superior regimens.
Results: This study included 210 patients. The first-line PD-1-mAb combination group (n = 83) achieved longer median PFS (mPFS) (7.3 vs 5.3 months, p =0.001) and median OS (mOS) (15.6 vs 11.4 months, p =0.002) than the first-line standard chemotherapy group (n =76). Similarly, the second-line PD-1-mAb combination group (n =50) yielded longer mPFS (6.1 vs 2.6 months, p < 0.001) and mOS (11.7 vs 7.2 months, p =0.008) than the second-line systematic therapy group (n =51). Subgroup analyses showed that the PD-1-mAb combined with TKI group achieved better mPFS than the chemotherapy group whether in the first-line (HR = 0.468, p =0.005) or the second-line setting (HR = 0.45, p =0.009), but did not achieve superiority in mOS (both p > 0.05). Compared with the chemotherapy group, the PD-1-mAb combined with chemotherapy group achieved longer mOS (HR = 0.53, p =0.023) in the first-line setting and longer mPFS in the second-line setting (HR = 0.54, p =0.044).
Conclusion: The PD-1-mAb combination therapy is superior to the standard chemotherapy in advanced or unresectable BTC, whether as a first-line or second-line treatment. Among the combination therapy, both the PD-1-mAb combined with TKI and combined with standard chemotherapy were promising options for advanced BTC patients.
Keywords: biliary tract carcinoma, PD-1-mAb, PD-1 plus anti-angiogenesis TKI, PD-1 plus chemotherapy, the first-line chemotherapy, the second-line chemotherapy