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Gastrointestinal cancer

Adjuvant S-1 extends OS in biliary tract cancers

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 20, page 138 (2023)Cite this article

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Radical surgical resection is the standard-of-care treatment for patients with biliary tract cancers. Although disease relapse is common, no clear benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy has been established to date. Now, results from the ASCOT trial, performed in Japan, indicate that adjuvant S-1 (an oral mixture of the prodrug tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil potassium) improves patient outcomes in this setting.

This phase III trial enrolled patients with stage I–IVA extrahepatic or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, or gallbladder or ampullary carcinomas, and an R0–1 status after radical resection. A total of 440 patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive adjuvant S-1 (for up to 4 cycles or 24 weeks) or to an observation arm. Overall survival (OS) was the primary end point.

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References

Original article

  • Nakachi, K. et al. Adjuvant S-1 compared with observation in resected biliary tract cancer (JCOG1202, ASCOT): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet 401, 195–203 (2023)

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  1. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology http://www.nature.com/nrclinonc

    Diana Romero

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  1. Diana Romero
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Correspondence to Diana Romero.

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Romero, D. Adjuvant S-1 extends OS in biliary tract cancers. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 20, 138 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-023-00738-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-023-00738-1

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