A critical appraisal of the potential benefit of postoperative structured follow-up after resection for biliary tract cancer

Background: There is currently no evidence to support structured use of imaging or biomarkers during follow-up of patients after curative resection of biliary tract cancer (BTC). Besides, the influence of early detection of recurrence and subsequent start of palliative chemotherapy on overall survival remains unknown. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the results of two follow-up strategies. Methods: This retrospective multicenter cohort study compared patients from the Amsterdam UMC undergoing pragmatic clinical follow-up, to patients from the observational cohort of the BILCAP study undergoing structured follow-up. Primary outcome was overall survival. Results: A total of 315 patients were included n=91 pragmatic, n=224 structured follow-up). At median follow-up of 56.9 months, 189 (60%) patients were diagnosed with recurrence. After recurrence, more patients received palliative (chemo) therapy in the structured group (43% vs 75%, P<0.001). Median overall survival was lower in the pragmatic group (27.7 vs 39.1 months, P=0.003). Median overall survival of patients who actually received chemotherapy was comparable (27.2 vs 27.7 months, P=0.574). Conclusion: This study describes the results of two follow-up strategies. Although these groups are biased, it is noted that after pragmatic follow-up fewer patients received palliative chemotherapy but that those who actually received chemotherapy had similar overall survival compared to patients undergoing structured follow-up.