A combination of non-chemo breast cancer drugs could soon be used to treat patients with a rare form of liver cancer.
Tucatinib and trastuzumab – when used together – have been shown to shrink tumors in patients with bile duct cancer.
The cancer attacks the tubes in the liver that carry bile, allowing the body to digest food by breaking down fat, and there are few effective treatments.
For those whose cancer has not spread beyond the bile ducts, the five-year survival rate is about 20 percent – but once the cancer has spread, this drops to just two percent.
Researchers in the groundbreaking study in Japan used the two drugs to treat patients with a variety of tumors linked to a protein in the body called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER2.
Tucatinib and trastuzumab – when used together – have been shown to shrink tumors in patients with bile duct cancer (image)
Tumors with a high HER2 content spread more quickly through the body. Tucatinib and trastuzumab are already used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer patients.
The tablets are more effective than traditional chemotherapy and have fewer side effects.
The study concluded that bile duct cancer had the strongest response to the drugs, with almost half seeing their tumors shrink.
About 2,700 people in the UK are diagnosed with bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma, every year. The number of cases has doubled in the past twenty years, but the reason for this is unknown.
Experts say tucatinib and trastuzumab should now be offered to bile duct cancer patients who have not responded to existing treatments.
“This combination without chemotherapy appeared to be safe and well tolerated,” said Dr. Yoshiaki Nakamura, an oncologist at National Cancer Center Hospital East in Kashiwa.