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Unlocking potential treatments for biliary tract cancers by studying the DNA of advanced patients

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Steve Gallinger

This study aims to use genetic sequencing to explore this rare, deadly and underfunded disease so the data can be mined and used to develop more effective and personalized treatments.

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Project Summary

  • < 1 year

    The survival rate for those with advanced disease.

  • Age 50

    More people are getting diagnosed with over 25% diagnosed younger than 50.

Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) refer to a group of cancers that include gallbladder cancer (GBC) and bile duct cancer. BTCs are rare but on the rise, and those who are diagnosed face limited options and a very high mortality rate. There hasn’t been a lot of progress in the treatment of BTCs because the biology of these tumors is still poorly understood.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the biology of biliary tract cancers, so we can know why they develop and what treatments are best.

We plan to recruit 60-90 patients over 3 years. We will collect blood and tumor samples from these patients to study BTCs on a molecular level and then use this information to build a database that we can share with researchers around the world.

Research Team