Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Versus Capecitabine as Adjuvant Therapy for Resected Biliary Tract Cancer (HAIC-BTC)

October 29, 2026 updated by: Zhai Wenlong

A Prospective, Open-label, Randomized Controlled Clinical Study of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy (HAIC) Versus Capecitabine as Adjuvant Therapy for Biliary Tract Malignancies After Radical Resection

This is a prospective, open-label, randomized controlled clinical study. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy (HAIC) compared with Capecitabine monotherapy as adjuvant therapy for patients with biliary tract cancer after radical resection.

Patients with histologically confirmed biliary tract cancer (including intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and gallbladder cancer) who have undergone R0 or R1 resection will be enrolled. A total of approximately 90 eligible patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either HAIC (Oxaliplatin plus 5-Fluorouracil) or Capecitabine.

The primary endpoint is Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS). The secondary endpoints include Overall Survival (OS) and safety profiles. This study aims to provide high-level evidence for a more effective adjuvant treatment strategy to reduce recurrence and improve survival for patients with resected biliary tract cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Background: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is highly malignant with a high recurrence rate even after radical resection. The BILCAP trial established Capecitabine as the standard of care for adjuvant therapy. However, further improvements in survival are needed. HAIC has shown promising anti-tumor activity in liver malignancies by increasing local drug concentration and reducing systemic toxicity. Our preliminary data suggest the potential benefit of local chemotherapy in biliary tract cancer.

Study Design: This is a prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Patients will be randomized 1:1 into two arms.

Interventions:

HAIC Arm: Patients will receive Oxaliplatin (40 mg/m2 for 2h) followed by 5-Fluorouracil (800 mg/m2 continuous infusion for 22h) on days 1-3 of each 4-week cycle. Treatment will continue for 3-4 cycles.

Capecitabine Arm: Patients will receive oral Capecitabine 1250 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1-14 of each 3-week cycle for 8 cycles.

Follow-up: Patients will be followed up with imaging every 2 cycles during treatment, and then every 2-3 months until disease recurrence, withdrawal of consent, or death. Survival follow-up will continue to assess overall survival.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
90

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Henan
      • Zhengzhou, Henan, China, 450052
        • The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 18 years, male or female.

Histopathologically confirmed biliary tract malignancy (intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, perihilar cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, and distal cholangiocarcinoma) and underwent radical surgery with negative surgical margins.

No history of other tumors, and no prior anti-tumor therapy (including but not limited to chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, etc.) before or after surgery.

ECOG performance status: 0~1.

Baseline blood counts and biochemistry must meet: hemoglobin ≥ 80 g/L; absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 × 10^9/L; platelet count ≥ 60 × 10^9/L; ALT/AST ≤ 3 times ULN; total bilirubin ≤ 2 times ULN; serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 times ULN; albumin ≥ 30 g/L; INR < 1.7 or PT prolonged ≤ 4 seconds.

Women of childbearing potential must agree to use contraception during the study and for 6 months after; negative pregnancy test within 7 days prior to enrollment; non-lactating. Men must agree to use contraception.

Patients with active HBV infection must receive anti-HBV therapy starting from screening and willing to continue; HCV RNA positive patients must receive standard antiviral therapy and liver function within CTCAE grade 1 elevation.

Voluntary participation, signed informed consent, good compliance, willing to cooperate with follow-up.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant or lactating.

Received anti-tumor drug therapy for cholangiocarcinoma before or after surgery.

Cardiac, pulmonary, or renal insufficiency, severe hepatic insufficiency (Child-Pugh C): (1) severe cardiovascular diseases; (2) severe respiratory diseases; (3) renal disease: chronic renal failure, MDRD ≥ stage III; (4) uncontrolled active infection; (5) ASA > 3; (6) BMI ≥ 35.

Active gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcer, refractory ascites.

Uncorrectable hypertension, coagulopathy, or severe portal hypertension.

Tumor recurrence within 1 month after surgery.

History of other malignancies.

Received other investigational drugs within 28 days.

Deemed unsuitable by the investigator.

Allergy & Contraindications: severe allergy to iodine contrast media unmanageable by premedication, or contraindications to angiography.

Postoperative pathology confirmed non-cholangiocarcinoma.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Experimental: HAIC Group

Oxaliplatin (40 mg/m2 for 2h) followed by 5-Fluorouracil (800 mg/m2 continuous infusion for 22h) on days 1-3 of each 4-week cycle for 3-4 cycles.
Drug: Oxaliplatin

Administered via hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) at 40 mg/m2 for 2 hours on days 1-3 of each 4-week cycle.

Drug: 5-Fluorouracil

Administered via hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) at 800 mg/m2 continuous infusion for 22 hours on days 1-3 of each 4-week cycle.

Other Names:
  • 5-FU
Active Comparator: Active Comparator: Capecitabine Group

Oral Capecitabine 1250 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1-14 of each 3-week cycle for 8 cycles.
Drug: Capecitabine

Administered orally at 1250 mg/m2 twice daily on days 1-14 of each 3-week cycle for 8 cycles.

Other Names:
  • Xeloda

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS)
Time Frame: From surgery up to 36 months

Time from surgery to the first documented recurrence of disease or death from any cause.
From surgery up to 36 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall Survival (OS)
Time Frame: From randomization up to 60 months

Time from randomization to death from any cause.
From randomization up to 60 months
Incidence and severity of adverse events
Time Frame: From first dose up to 30 days after the last dose

Incidence, nature, and severity of adverse events (including serious adverse events) and drug exposure, graded according to NCI CTCAE v5.0.
From first dose up to 30 days after the last dose

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Zhai Wenlong

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 30, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 30, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 30, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • ZZU-HAIC-2026-001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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