Patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) often have limited life expectancy, making quality of life and time spent receiving medical care (“time toxicity”) important considerations when selecting systemic therapy. This multicenter retrospective study evaluated whether adding durvalumab to gemcitabine–cisplatin (GCD) increases healthcare-related time burden compared with gemcitabine–cisplatin alone (GC).
Patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) often have limited life expectancy, making quality of life and time spent receiving medical care (“time toxicity”) important considerations when selecting systemic therapy. This multicenter retrospective study evaluated whether adding durvalumab to gemcitabine–cisplatin (GCD) increases healthcare-related time burden compared with gemcitabine–cisplatin alone (GC).
The study included 193 patients treated between 2019 and 2024 across centres in the United States, Japan, and Brazil. Among them, 102 received GCD and 91 received GC. The median time on treatment was 156 days, and the median proportion of time spent in healthcare systems was 14.4%. Most healthcare contacts consisted of planned visits (11.9%), while unplanned visits were uncommon (1.8%).
Although patients receiving GCD remained on treatment longer than those receiving GC (212 vs 134 days), the overall time to toxicity was similar between groups (27 vs 18 days). Time toxicity strongly correlated with treatment duration and progression-free survival, indicating that longer treatment exposure naturally increases healthcare contact time.
Multivariable analysis showed that younger patients and those with poorer performance status experienced higher time toxicity.
Overall, the study highlights time toxicity as an important patient-centred metric in advanced cancer care. The addition of durvalumab to gemcitabine–cisplatin prolongs treatment duration without increasing the proportion of time spent receiving healthcare, providing useful information for shared decision-making between clinicians and patients when balancing survival benefits and quality of life.
Introduction: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a promising noninvasive biomarker for monitoring treatment response and residual disease in solid tumors. However, its prognostic value during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for localized pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma...
Introduction: Aspirin is one of the few interventions proven to reduce colorectal and other Lynch syndrome–associated cancers. The earlier CaPP2 trial established 600 mg daily aspirin as an effective chemopreventive strategy, but concerns regarding long-term...
Introduction: The TOPAZ-1 trial established durvalumab combined with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GemCis) as the first immunotherapy-based first-line standard of care for advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC). However, long-term survival outcomes and durability of benefit beyond...
Introduction: Somatostatin receptor (SSTR) PET/CT has become indispensable for diagnosing, staging, and monitoring neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). However, until now, there has been no standardized method for assessing treatment response using SSTR PET imaging. This international...
Introduction: Staging laparoscopy (SL) is recommended for patients with locally advanced gastric cancer to detect occult peritoneal metastases before curative treatment. However, its real-world utilization across Europe remains uncertain. This large GASTRODATA study evaluated the...
Introduction: Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors have transformed the management of mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) locally advanced colorectal cancer, achieving unprecedented pathological response rates. Experimental evidence suggests that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibition may enhance...
We are pioneers in clinical intelligence, dedicated to helping gastroenterologists harness the power of artificial intelligence to drive precision, efficiency, and patient growth.