Dr Goetze talks to ecancer at ASCO 2025 about data he presented from the phase III AIO/CALGP/ACO-GAIN trial.

This evaluated whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin prior to radical liver resection improves outcomes in patients with resectable biliary tract cancer (BTC) compared to immediate surgery followed by adjuvant therapy.

Among 68 randomized patients, those who received neoadjuvant therapy (Arm A) showed significantly better overall survival (median 27.8 vs. 14.6 months), higher R0 resection rates (62.5% vs. 33.3%), and improved event-free survival, with similar postoperative morbidity and lower mortality.

These results suggest that neoadjuvant chemotherapy nearly doubles median overall survival without increasing complications, supporting its use as a more effective treatment approach than surgery followed by adjuvant therapy in resectable BTC.