Photodynamic therapy for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma: contribution of single operator cholangioscopy for targeted treatment

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma is associated with improvement in cholestasis and survival. Single operator cholangioscopy (SOC) has been used for targeted laser illumination. We analyzed our growing experience of SOC with direct PDT. This is a retrospective analysis of a consecutive series of patients prospectively entered into a registry. Forty-five patients (24 male, aged 67.3 ± 10.6 years) were treated with PDT for cholangiocarcinoma during a five-year period. Thirty-two patients were treated with ERCP and PDT alone, and 13 were treated with ERCP and PDT using SOC. The two groups were then compared to observe any statistically significant difference in regards to age, gender, serum bilirubin, MELD score, adverse effects, or survival. An overall median of 1 PDT session per patient (range: 1–9) was performed. Twenty-six total sessions of PDT using SOC were performed in 13 patients with a median of 2.0 sessions per patient (range: 1–6). Median global survival was 168 days (range: 26–1353). Median survival for the PDT-only group was 200 days, and median survival for the PDT-with-SOC group was 386 days (p = 0.45). There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.0001) between the two groups in regards to fluoroscopy time, with the PDT-only group having a median time of 21.1 min and the PDT-with-SOC group having a median time of 11.1 min. PDT related complications included 7 cases of mild phototoxicity and one case of moderate phototoxicity requiring hospitalization. SOC permits targeted therapy during PDT and can be successfully performed without adverse events while simultaneously reducing exposure to radiation.