What's New in Gallbladder Cancer Research?

Because gallbladder cancer is rare, it's been hard to study. Most experts agree that treatment in a clinical trial should be considered for people with any stage of gallbladder cancer.

Gallbladder cancer research is being done in many university hospitals, medical centers, and other institutions around the world. Each year, scientists learn more about what causes the disease, how to prevent it, and how better to treat it. The new and promising treatments discussed here might be available only in clinical trials.

Research on the early detection of gallbladder cancer

Because gallbladder cancer is often found after surgery to remove the gallbladder for other problems (like gallstones), doctors are looking for ways to know whether gallbladder problems are being caused by cancer before surgery is done. For instance, studies are looking at how better to use imaging tests, like MRI and CT scans, to more accurately identify and diagnose changes in the gallbladder.

Identifying proteins that are linked to gallbladder inflammation is another area of research. Early research has suggested that high blood levels of certain proteins may help show which people have gallstones and which have cancer. This could even be used as a screening test in the future, but a lot more research is needed.

Research into radiation therapy for gallbladder cancer

Researchers are looking for better ways to use radiation therapy, as well as how best to use it with other treatments, like surgery and chemotherapy. Using certain chemo drugs and radiation together has been found to work better than either treatment alone. This is called chemoradiation. Research is looking at the timing of these treatments, as well as learning which drugs work best with radiation to treat gallbladder cancer.

 Research into chemotherapy for gallbladder cancer

Chemotherapy has had limited effect against gallbladder cancer, but new drugs and drug combinations are being tested. Studies are also looking for better ways to combine chemo and other treatments, like surgery and radiation.

There's a lot of research on combining chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

Research into targeted therapy for gallbladder cancer

Many drugs that target a specific change (mutation) in cancer cells have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are used today. These include drugs that target mutations, including NTRK, RET, BRAF, FGFR2, IDH1, RET, KRAS, and HER2. Studies also are looking at other targetable mutations.

Another area of active research is how combining targeted therapy with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, can better help kill gallbladder cancer cells. Different drug combinations are being tested in clinical trials for use in treating gallbladder cancer.

Research into immunotherapy for gallbladder cancer

Immunotherapy is designed to boost the body’s natural defenses to fight the cancer. Current clinical trials are testing different immunotherapy drugs to treat gallbladder cancer.