Improving Outcomes for People with a Set of Rare Cancers

Biliary tract cancers are a group of rare cancers with limited treatment options and generally poor outcomes because most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage. There are efforts to address that through the development of early detection tools. And the use of biomarker testing can today match as many as half of these patients to a targeted therapy, although it’s critical to make people aware of the importance of this. We spoke to Rachna Shroff, associate director of clinical investigations of the gastrointestinal clinical research team at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, about biliary tract cancers, the importance of biomarker testing, and what can be done to improve outcomes for people with these rare cancers.