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Cholangiocarcinoma - Overview

Alternative Names

Bile duct cancer

Definition of Cholangiocarcinoma:

Cholangiocarcinoma is a cancerous (malignant) growth in one of the ducts that carries bile from the liver to the small intestine.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Cancerous tumors of the bile ducts are usually slow-growing and do not spread (metastasize) quickly. However, many of these tumors are already advanced by the time they are found.

A cholangiocarcinoma may start anywhere along the bile ducts. These tumors block off the bile ducts.

They affect both men and women. Most patients are older than 65.

Risks for this condition include:

Bile duct (choledochal) cysts
Chronic biliary irritation
History of infection with the parasitic worm, liver flukes
Primary sclerosing cholangitis
Ulcerative colitis

Cholangiocarcinoma is rare. It occurs in approximately 2 out of 100,000 people.

Digestive system

Bile pathway

Reviewed last on: 6/2/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Lewis RL. Liver and biliary tract tumors. In Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 206.

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