Purpose

This phase III trial studies how well gemcitabine hydrochloride and cisplatin given with or without nab-paclitaxel work in treating patients with newly diagnosed biliary tract cancers that have spread to other places in the body. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine hydrochloride, cisplatin, and nab-paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. It is not known if giving gemcitabine hydrochloride and cisplatin with or without nab-paclitaxel may work better at treating biliary tract cancers.