Drug Evaluation

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

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Alessandro Rizzo

*Author for correspondence:

E-mail Address: rizzo.alessandro179@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5257-8678

Struttura Semplice Dipartimentale di Oncologia Medica per la Presa in Carico Globale del Paziente Oncologico ‘Don Tonino Bello,’ I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Tumori ‘Giovanni Paolo II,’ Viale Orazio Flacco 65, 70124, Bari, Italy

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Annalisa Schirizzi

Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

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Simona Vallarelli

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

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Carmela Ostuni

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

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Laura Troiani

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

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Ivan Roberto Lolli

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

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Claudio Lotesoriere

Oncology Unit of National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy

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Gianluigi Giannelli

Scientific Direction, National Institute of Gastroenterology - IRCCS “Saverio de Bellis”, Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

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Published Online:23 Mar 2023https://doi.org/10.2217/imt-2022-0301

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Abstract

Following the practice-changing results observed in several hematological and solid tumors, immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has been tested in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) patients. However, ICI monotherapy has had disappointing results in CCA, and phase I–III clinical trials have assessed whether combinatorial strategies including immunotherapy plus other anticancer agents may have a synergistic activity. The TOPAZ-1 trial has recently highlighted improved survival in CCA patients receiving first-line durvalumab plus gemcitabine–cisplatin compared with gemcitabine plus cisplatin alone, and several guidelines consider adding durvalumab to the reference doublet as standard of care. This article provides an overview of durvalumab pharmacology, safety and efficacy in CCA, highlighting current and future research directions in this setting.

Plain language summary

Several treatments have been recently tested for cholangiocarcinoma patients. Among these, interesting results have been reported for immunotherapy with durvalumab, and the combination of immunotherapy plus chemotherapy represents a novel and important option in this setting.

Keywords:

Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest

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Vol. 15, No. 7

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History

Received 11 December 2022

Accepted 7 March 2023

Published online 23 March 2023

Published in print May 2023

Information

Keywords

Author contribution

Conceptualization, AD Ricci, R D'Alessandro, A Rizzo, G Gianelli; methodology, AD Ricci, R D'Alessandro, A Rizzo, G Gianelli; software, all authors; validation, all authors; formal analysis, AD Ricci, R D'Alessandro, A Rizzo, G Gianelli, A Schirizzi; investigation, all authors; resources, all authors; data curation, AD Ricci, R D'Alessandro, A Rizzo; writing – original draft preparation, AD Ricci, R D'Alessandro, A Rizzo, A Schirizzi; writing – review and editing, G Gianelli; visualization, all authors; supervision, G Gianelli; project administration, all authors; funding acquisition, all authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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Durvalumab in advanced cholangiocarcinoma: is someone knocking down the door?

Abstract

Plain language summary

References