Abstract
RATIONALE: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly aggressive cancer. When treated using standard chemotherapy, the median overall survival is <1 year. Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as pembrolizumab or durvalumab combined with chemotherapy show promise. However, those immune checkpoint inhibitors are very expensive. Tislelizumab may offer a more affordable alternative for advanced GBC. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report on the case of a 70-year-old patient with GBC who, after experiencing disease progression following standard second-line chemotherapy, was excluded from participating in a clinical trial due to poor performance status. DIAGNOSES: The patient was diagnosed with stage IVB (TxN2M0) GBC. INTERVENTIONS: He was treated with tislelizumab in combination with oxaliplatin and capecitabine. OUTCOMES: The patient had a progression-free survival of 7 months and overall survival of 16 months. The overall overall survival from the onset of the disease was 23 months. LESSONS: The administration of tislelizumab improved survival in a patient with advanced gallbladder cancer. Tislelizumab emerged as a potential more cost-effective alternative option to pembrolizumab or durvalumab in our treatment strategy. These findings provide the basis for large-scale clinical trials to confirm the efficacy of tislelizumab for GBC.