Photo Credit: Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeen

Researchers found no association between adjuvant chemotherapy and an improvement in overall survival in patients following resected biliary tract cancer compared with observation, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. The link between adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) and survival in resected biliary tract cancer (BTC) remains controversial. To assess the association of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) after resection of biliary tract cancer with survival in patients aged 70 years or older, Olumide B. Gbolahan, MBBS, MSc, and colleagues, conducted a retrospective cohort study that included 8,091 patients. Only one-third of older adult patients received AC between 2004 and 2019; however, its use increased throughout the study. After a 21-month follow-up, AC was not associated with improved survival (median OS, 20.5 months; 95% CI, 19.2-21.7 months) compared with observation (median OS, 19.0 months; 95% CI, 18.1-20.3 months). The results suggest the need for further research on AC for older adults who may benefit from curative intent surgery.