Palliative chemotherapy for advanced gallbladder cancer

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Gallbladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the biliary tract. Given the lack of therapeutic alternatives for advanced stage patients studies have suggested that palliative chemotherapy could benefit these patients. METHODS We searched in Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis, and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We identified two systematic reviews including two studies overall, of which one was a randomized trial. We concluded that palliative chemotherapy may increase survival in advanced gallbladder cancer patients. However, palliative chemotherapy probably increases adverse effects. In addition, it is essential to carry out a new systematic review, since methodological errors were identified in the analysis and there is new evidence that has not been included in the previous reviews.

Keywords

• gallbladder cancer
• palliative chemotherapy
• chemotherapy
• epistemonikos
• grade.