← Issue №5/ week of Aug 2, 2026/Pancreas/Biliary

Prognostic Impact of Concomitant Genomic Alterations in FGFR2-Positive Cholangiocarcinoma Treated With Pemigatinib.

From GI Signals issue №5: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Pancreas/Biliary retrospective · n=63 · Aug 1, 2026 · Liver International · IF 6.7

Prognostic Impact of Concomitant Genomic Alterations in FGFR2-Positive Cholangiocarcinoma Treated With Pemigatinib.

New evidencecholangiocarcinomabiomarker
Clinical takeawayCDKN2A/BAP1 mutations may identify patients with poorer pemigatinib response, but current SOC does not yet support altering therapy based on these findings. Further validation is needed.
What it foundIn FGFR2-positive CCA patients treated with pemigatinib, those with CDKN2A mutations had shorter PFS vs wild-type (4.79 vs. 8.66 months, HR: 3.48) and BAP1 mutations had shorter PFS vs wild-type (5.97 vs. 8.52 months, HR: 2.55); no OS difference was observed.
ContextReal-world study of pemigatinib in FGFR2-positive CCA, highlighting prognostic (not predictive) biomarkers without proven therapeutic alternatives.
Refinessuggested applicable standard· NCCN Biliary Tract Cancers V2.2025 (V1.2026 in circulation) / AASLD 2023 Practice Guidance on PSC and Cholangiocarcinoma

Decision at stakethe use of pemigatinib for advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 alterations

For unresectable or metastatic disease, first-line systemic therapy is gemcitabine plus cisplatin combined with a PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, either durvalumab (TOPAZ-1) or pembrolizumab (KEYNOTE-966), both listed as category 1 preferred options by NCCN; comprehensive molecular/genomic profiling is recommended for all unresectable/metastatic candidates for systemic therapy to identify actionable targets (e.g., FGFR2 fusions, IDH1 mutations, HER2 amplification) for later-line therapy.

From our summary of this standard, unedited — the part the paper bears on. marks omitted text. Our wording, not the guideline's; read the source for its own text.

Our full summary of this standard

Stage cholangiocarcinoma with multiphasic MRI/MRCP plus CT chest/abdomen/pelvis, obtain tissue via ERCP brush cytology with FISH, cholangioscopy-directed biopsy, or EUS-FNA (avoiding primary perihilar tumor sampling if liver transplant is being considered due to theoretical seeding risk), and manage through a multidisciplinary tumor board with treatment stratified by tumor location: resect (anatomic hepatectomy for intrahepatic, hemihepatectomy with bile duct resection for perihilar, Whipple for distal) with adjuvant capecitabine (category 1, per BILCAP) when resectable. For unresectable or metastatic disease, first-line systemic therapy is gemcitabine plus cisplatin combined with a PD-L1/PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, either durvalumab (TOPAZ-1) or pembrolizumab (KEYNOTE-966), both listed as category 1 preferred options by NCCN; comprehensive molecular/genomic profiling is recommended for all unresectable/metastatic candidates for systemic therapy to identify actionable targets (e.g., FGFR2 fusions, IDH1 mutations, HER2 amplification) for later-line therapy. Selected unresectable early-stage perihilar tumors may undergo neoadjuvant chemoradiation and liver transplant per the Mayo Clinic protocol at experienced centers, and jaundice or cholangitis is managed with biliary drainage (ERCP preferred over PTC).

NCCN Biliary Tract Cancers V2.2025 (V1.2026 in circulation) / AASLD 2023 Practice Guidance on PSC and Cholangiocarcinoma · reviewed 2026-07-21 ↗
Liguori C … Parisi A · Liver International : Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · IF 6.7 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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