Weekly gemcitabine for the treatment of biliary tract and gallbladder cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of weekly administration of gemcitabine treatment in chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced biliary tract and gallbladder cancer.

Patients And Methods: Gemcitabine at a dose of 800 mg/m2 was administered weekly as a 30-min infusion to patients with previously operated, histologically confirmed, metastatic, or unresectable locally advanced cholangiocarcinoma. Treatment was continued until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression.

G-CSF in solid tumor chemotherapy: a tailored regimen reduces febrile neutropenia, treatment delays and direct costs.

Background: Current guidelines do not recommend G-CSF for patients with risk factors for neutropenia.

Material/methods: One-hundred patients undergoing chemotherapy were randomized to treatment with G-CSF at 5 Kg/kg for established febrile neutropenia (ANC <1000/microl) (Group A) or G-CSF at 263 Kg/day if ANC was 1500/microl or less on the day of the expected nadir, with the duration of treatment determined by the severity of neutropenia (Group B).

Results: The number of doses of G-CSF was similar in the two groups.