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Guidelines for sites linking to mayoclinic.orgMayo Clinic has the expertise and experience to treat bile duct cancer (also known as cholangiocarcinoma). Mayo Clinic is one of the most experienced treatment centers for this disease, treating 100-200 new patients who have this cancer each year. A team of highly skilled specialists determines the best treatment program for each patient. As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Mayo can offer patients access to clinical trials.
Cancers of the biliary tract (gallbladder and bile ducts) seldom produce symptoms in the early stages. Patients who develop symptoms of biliary cancer, such as jaundice, will have a physical examination and one or more diagnostic tests. Read more about diagnosis of bile duct cancer.
Treatments for bile duct cancer vary with the size of the tumor and how far it has advanced. Among treatments are surgery, liver transplantation, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy and biliary drainage. Where the cancer cannot be completely removed but has not spread outside the liver, liver transplantation may be an option. Mayo Clinic is one of the few institutions in the world offering transplantation for bile duct cancer. Read more about treatment for bile duct cancer.
Bile duct cancer is a malignant growth in the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the small intestine.
Cancer of the bile duct is rare and is most prevalent in people ages 50 to 70. Approximately 2,000 cases of bile duct cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. The tumor sometimes blocks the bile ducts, which can cause jaundice, clay-colored stools, itching, loss of appetite, weight loss, fever, chills or abdominal and back pain. These tumors usually grow slowly and spread gradually. In many cases, bile duct cancer tumors are diagnosed in the advanced stages.
Hilar or Klatskin tumors are the most common bile duct cancers. These tumors are located where the right and left hepatic bile ducts meet. There is another form of this disease, the intrahepatic bile duct tumor, which does not block the main bile ducts. Bile duct cancer develops in a significant number of patients with diseases of the biliary tree, such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, intraductal gallstones, biliary tree strictures and choledochal cysts.
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Tracing system identifies patients who qualify for clinical trials. See Clinical Trials.
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