Current Progress and Future Perspectives of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Biliary Tract Cancer

Abstract

Poshita-Kumari Seesaha,1,* Kang-Xin Wang,2,* Guo-Qun Wang,2 Ting-Yun Cui,2 Feng-Jiao Zhao,1 Lan-Lan Pan,1 Xiang-Cheng Li,3 Yong-Qian Shu,1 Xiao-Feng Chen1,2 1Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Pukou Branch Hospital of Jiangsu Province Hospital (Nanjing Pukou Central Hospital), Nanjing, 211800, People’s Republic of China; 3Hepatobiliary Center of the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiao-Feng ChenDepartment of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, No. 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is an uncommon and aggressive neoplasm, with most patients presenting in an advanced stage. Systemic chemotherapy is the limited treatment available but is unsatisfactory, while targeted therapy is still awaiting validation from clinical trials. Given the potential effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of BTC, this review aims to summarize the evidence-based benefits and predictive biomarkers for using inhibitors of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4) ligand, or programmed cell death protein-1 and its ligand (PD-1 and PD-L1) as monotherapy or combined with other anti-tumor therapies, while also pointing out certain pitfalls with the use of ICIs which need to be addressed.Keywords: biliary tract cancer, immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, clinical evidence, predictive biomarkers

Keywords

• biliary tract cancer
• immunotherapy
• immune checkpoint inhibitors
• clinical evidence
• predictive biomarkers