Cholangiocarcinoma care at Mayo Clinic
Cholangiocarcinoma team members consult
A multidisciplinary team collaborates to provide individualized, comprehensive care for people with bile duct cancer.
Mayo Clinic offers compassionate care by experienced doctors for people with cholangiocarcinoma.
Your Mayo Clinic care team
At Mayo Clinic, experts work together to provide you with exactly the care you need. Your care team is made up of experts in cholangiocarcinoma, including specialists in gastroenterology and hepatology, radiology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, surgery, transplant, and other areas if needed.
This coordinated team approach fosters clear communication focused on your situation. Close collaboration among your Mayo Clinic care team members enables them to have your test results available quickly and to coordinate your appointments.
Proton therapy for cholangiocarcinoma
Some people with cholangiocarcinoma may benefit from Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy Program.
Advanced diagnosis and treatment
People who seek care at Mayo Clinic have access to advanced radiologic imaging, genetic testing and other advanced diagnostic tools. Your Mayo Clinic doctors have specialized expertise in analysis of biopsy specimens for bile duct cancer and in radiologic imaging, both of which are essential to an accurate diagnosis and staging of your cancer.
Your treatment options for your cholangiocarcinoma will depend on the specifics of your cancer, such as the size, location and extent, as well as your health and personal preferences. At Mayo Clinic, your expert team considers all of the available options and works with you to find a treatment that meets your needs.
Mayo Clinic offers all standard treatments for cholangiocarcinoma, including surgery, radiation therapy, radiofrequency ablation, photodynamic therapy, and chemotherapy and other drug treatments.
Mayo Clinic also offers proton therapy — a newer form of radiation therapy. Children, young adults and those with cancers located close to critical organs and body structures may benefit from this highly targeted precision beam therapy. Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy Program features intensity-modulated proton therapy with pencil beam scanning that allows radiation oncologists to destroy the cancer while sparing healthy tissue.
Mayo Clinic doctors pioneered the protocol that combines chemotherapy and radiation therapy with liver transplant for some types of bile duct cancer. Liver transplant surgery is done by experienced surgeons who perform many of these operations every year.
Mayo Clinic also offers palliative care, which is specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness. At Mayo Clinic, palliative care specialists work with you, your family and your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support that complements your ongoing care.
Bile duct cancer consultation
The results of your imaging tests will help guide your treatment.
Nationally recognized expertise
Mayo Clinic cholangiocarcinoma specialists are respected for their knowledge, experience and expertise. Specialists have extensive experience caring for people with bile duct cancers and they perform a high volume of operations and procedures on the liver and bile ducts. Mayo Clinic specialists are among the most experienced procedural experts (endoscopists, interventional radiologists, cancer surgeons and transplant surgeons) in the world.
Mayo Clinic surgeon Rory L. Smoot, M.D., discusses cholangiocarcinoma care at Mayo Clinic.
Expertise and rankings
Mayo Clinic doctors conduct research to advance the diagnosis and treatment of bile duct cancer.
Mayo Clinic doctors have extensive experience diagnosing and treating many people with cholangiocarcinoma, an uncommon type of cancer. Mayo Clinic is one of the major referral centers in the United States for primary sclerosing cholangitis, which is the major risk factor for bile duct cancer.
Mayo Clinic surgeons pioneered the use of liver transplant to treat hilar cholangiocarcinoma. They have performed many liver transplant procedures and other surgical procedures to treat bile duct cancers.
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center meets the strict standards for a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center, which recognize scientific excellence and a multispecialty approach focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for cancer by U.S. News & World Report.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, ranks No. 1 for digestive disorders in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings. Mayo Clinic in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, are ranked among the Best Hospitals for digestive disorders by U.S. News & World Report. Mayo Clinic Children's Center in Rochester is ranked the No. 1 hospital in Minnesota, and the five-state region of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2023–2024 "Best Children's Hospitals" rankings.
Learn more about Mayo Clinic's quality rankings.
Locations, travel and lodging
Mayo Clinic has major campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic Health System has dozens of locations in several states.
For more information on visiting Mayo Clinic, choose your location below:
Costs and insurance
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people.
In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
Learn more about appointments at Mayo Clinic.
Please contact your insurance company to verify medical coverage and to obtain any needed authorization prior to your visit. Often, your insurer's customer service number is printed on the back of your insurance card.