A Video Summary of the TOPAZ-1 Study PLSP: Durvalumab and Chemotherapy for Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer

Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are a group of cancers that develop in the gallbladder and bile ducts inside or outside of the liver. BTCs are usually diagnosed at advanced stages of disease. Historically, the standard of care for advanced BTC was chemotherapy. However, only around 50% of people survive longer than one year after starting treatment with chemotherapy and new treatment options are needed.

Durvalumab is a new type of treatment called immunotherapy that helps the immune system fight cancer. This animated video article presents results from the phase III TOPAZ-1 study, which looked at treatment with durvalumab or placebo in combination with chemotherapy for people with advanced BTC.

In TOPAZ-1, participants who took durvalumab and chemotherapy were less likely to die and less likely to experience their cancer growing, spreading, or getting worse than those who took placebo and chemotherapy. Adding durvalumab to chemotherapy did not cause any more side effects than chemotherapy alone, and the side effects observed were as expected with immunotherapy or chemotherapy.

The results of this study support adding durvalumab to chemotherapy as a new initial treatment option for people with advanced BTC. Durvalumab and chemotherapy is now approved for adults with BTC in many countries.

The content of this animated video article is based on the manuscript, “Plain Language Summary of the TOPAZ-1 Study: Durvalumab and Chemotherapy for Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer”, published in Future Oncology.

Click here or on the link below to read the Plain Language Summary of Publication (PLSP).

Durvalumab is also an approved treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in different countries across the globe. Click here or on the link below to learn about the phase III HIMALAYA study, which investigated tremelimumab plus durvalumab in the treatment of patients with unresectable HCC.

Original article:

Oh DY, He AW, Qin S, et al. Plain Language Summary of the TOPAZ-1 Study: Durvalumab and Chemotherapy for Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer. Future Oncol. 2023;19(34):2277-2289. DOI: 10.2217/fon-2023-0468.