Targeted Therapy Drugs for Gallbladder Cancer
As researchers have learned more about the gene and protein changes in cells that cause cancer, they have developed newer drugs to specifically target these changes. Targeted therapy is used to treat a lot of different kinds of cancer. And many of these drugs are being tested to see if they can help treat gallbladder cancer. Right now, the only way to get these drugs is in a clinical trial.
Targeted therapy drugs work differently from standard chemotherapy (chemo) drugs. They sometimes work when standard chemo drugs don’t, and they often have different (and less severe) side effects. They can be used either along with chemo or by themselves.
To learn more about how these drugs are used to treat cancer, see Targeted Cancer Therapy.
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The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
DeLeon TT, Ahn DH, Bogenberger JM, et al. Novel targeted therapy strategies for biliary tract cancers and hepatocellular carcinoma. Future Oncol. 2018;14(6):553-566.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), Hepatobiliary Cancers, Version 2.2018 -- June 7, 2018. Accessed at www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/hepatobiliary.pdf on June 26, 2018.
Yadav S, DE Sarkar N, Kumari N, et al. Targeted Gene Sequencing of Gallbladder Carcinoma Identifies High-impact Somatic and Rare Germline Mutations. Cancer Genomics Proteomics. 2017;14(6):495-506.
Zaidi MY, Maithel SK. Updates on gallbladder cancer management. Current Oncology Reports. 2018;20(21):1-7.
Last Revised: July 12, 2018
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