Is chemotherapy still useful for advanced gallbladder cancer?

The chance of radical resection of gallbladder cancer is small, and the prognosis is very poor. The current surgical treatment effect is unsatisfactory, and the traditional chemotherapy has low efficacy and has not significantly improved the patient's survival. Patients with advanced gallbladder cancer are no longer suitable for surgical treatment due to multiple metastases to nearby parts and lungs, bones, etc. The following three methods are mainly used. So, is chemotherapy still useful for advanced gallbladder cancer?

1. Radiotherapy: Gallbladder cancer cells are sensitive to radiotherapy. In order to prevent and reduce local recurrence, some European and American scholars actively advocate the use of radiotherapy. For local residual or recurrent lesions, radiotherapy can control their growth rate and relatively prolong the patient's survival time.

2. Chemotherapy: Commonly used chemotherapy drugs are similar to those for other digestive tract cancers, mainly 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, mitomycin, etc. The chemotherapy effect of gallbladder cancer is poor and its application is not yet widespread. So far, there is still a lack of systematic research and effective chemotherapy regimens.

3. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment: Immune-enhancing drugs such as ginsenoside Rh2 (content of 16.2% is most suitable for human absorption) can be used as an important auxiliary treatment for gallbladder cancer. This type of traditional Chinese medicine with no toxic side effects can help alleviate the pain of patients with advanced gallbladder cancer and help improve their quality of life.