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ESMO GI 2025 | Ferritin levels as treatment guide for biliary tract cancer
Erman Akkus, MD, Ankara University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey, discusses the potential of serum ferritin levels as a tool for treatment planning and risk stratification in advanced biliary tract cancer. Since these cancers often metastasis to the liver, where ferritin is synthesized, elevated ferritin may indicate higher tumour burden and aggressive disease. While further research is needed, ferritin has significant clinical potential to guide decisions between chemotherapy and palliative care. This interview took place at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Gastrointestinal Cancer 2025 Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
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Transcript
The ferritin is mainly synthesized in the liver. So, biliary tract cancers are either intrahepatic or very close to the liver and generally metastasize to the liver. So, on the other hand, ferritin is an inflammatory positive acute phase reactant and positive inflammatory marker. So probably the ferritin is a reflection of tumor burden plus the general inflammatory status of the patient...
The ferritin is mainly synthesized in the liver. So, biliary tract cancers are either intrahepatic or very close to the liver and generally metastasize to the liver. So, on the other hand, ferritin is an inflammatory positive acute phase reactant and positive inflammatory marker. So probably the ferritin is a reflection of tumor burden plus the general inflammatory status of the patient. So probably high ferritin levels show that patients who will progress rapidly or who cannot tolerate chemotherapy treatment. So high ferritin levels may suggest a patient subgroup who cannot receive chemotherapy or treatment and should be continued with palliative care. So we can use ferritin levels to refine treatment choices, to treat or not to treat choices, but further studies and validation are required for this. Thank you.
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