Conventional methods of Western medicine in treating bile duct cancer

Conventional methods of Western medicine for treating bile duct cancer:

1. Therapeutic chemotherapy for advanced cholangiocarcinoma

Commonly used chemotherapy drugs are similar to those for other gastrointestinal cancers, mainly including 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin ADM, mitomycin MMC nitrosourea, etc. It can be used for systemic or arterial catheterization. Since the blood supply of the bile duct comes from the hepatic artery, arterial chemotherapy may have a better effect than the former. Some studies have indeed shown that chemotherapy can relieve the symptoms caused by bile duct cancer, improve the quality of life of patients, and prolong survival.

2. Auxiliary surgical treatment

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is to first apply chemotherapy and radiotherapy to solid tumors, followed by surgery, and then adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery. The theoretical basis is to perform effective combined chemotherapy before surgery or radiotherapy to kill a large number of sensitive tumor cells and reduce the vitality of tumor cells, and then use surgical resection or radiotherapy to destroy the remaining cancer cells, including those that are insensitive to chemotherapy, to achieve the purpose of curing the tumor. Some scholars have used this regimen to treat hilar cholangiocarcinoma, usually intravenous infusion of fluorouracil for 5 days before surgery, and then external radiation therapy to the tumor site. The results increased the surgical resection rate and reduced the residual rate of microscopic cancer cells at the bile duct resection margin, thereby reducing local recurrence, but there is no conclusion on whether it can improve the survival rate.

3. Combined with radiotherapy

The application of some recognized radiosensitizers such as fluorouracil can improve the efficacy of radiotherapy. In vitro and animal experimental studies on the killing of bile duct cancer cells by molecular chemotherapy and radiosensitization have achieved satisfactory experimental results, providing a new approach for the comprehensive treatment of bile duct cancer. Minsky used fluorouracil and mitomycin combined with radiotherapy: the irradiation dose of the tumor bed and lymph nodes was 50Gy, and most patients also received 15Gy intracavitary radiotherapy. Patients can tolerate it, and the 3-year survival rate is 50%. Postoperative external radiotherapy and fluorouracil chemotherapy can reduce the radiotherapy dose.