This cancer is usually incurable, in part because symptoms usually develop after the tumor has already spread.
About 10% of people survive five years or more after diagnosis.
This article covers the symptoms and causes of bile duct cancer.
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This includes the liver which produces bile and the gallbladder which stores and releases bile when needed.
The system starts with theright andleft hepatic ductsinside the liver that join to form thecommon hepatic ductoutside the liver.
Bile duct cancer can causehepatitis, which is inflammation of the liver.
This leads to increased blood levels ofbilirubin, a yellow pigment produced by the breakdown of red blood cells.
In general, symptoms of bile duct cancer may not appear until the cancer is in a late stage.
These can include:
The severity of symptoms typically depends on the location of the tumor.
In some cases, tumors inside the liver may not cause symptoms at all.
A diagnosis of bile duct cancer is confirmed with abiopsy.
It provides the definitive diagnosis of solid tumor cancers like bile duct cancer.
Staging is used to determine how advanced the cancer is based on theTNM classification system.
There are slight variations in how intrahepatic, perihilar, and distal bile duct cancers are staged.
This is usually performed with laparoscopy rather thanopen surgery.
With laparoscopy, a probe is inserted through very small incisions in the abdomen to examine affected tissues.
In such cases,chemotherapyandradiationmay be used to halt the spread of cancer until a donor liver is found.
Adjuvant Therapies
Adjuvant therapies are used after surgery to destroy remaining cancer cells and prevent their return.
Common cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy are considered adjuvant therapies.
These treatments slow cancer growth by helping your immune system target and attack cancer cells with specific mutations.
The outcome tends to be poor any time cancer spreads to the liver.
Some people can survive longer based on their general health and the location of the tumor.
Late-stage symptoms depend on where the tumor is located and often mimic hepatitis.
Bile cancer can be treated with surgery in some cases.
In addition, treatments (chemo, radiation) are often used to prevent recurrence.
When surgery is not an option, treatments are given to slow progression and improve quality of life.
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American Cancer Society.Staging of perihilar bile duct cancers.
American Cancer Society.Staging distal bile duct cancers.
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