What is the treatment for bile duct cancer

What are the treatments for bile duct cancer? Although bile duct cancer is not the most common cancer, it can also pose a serious threat to our health and even life. We must pay attention to such a harmful disease. So what are the treatments for bile duct cancer? Let's take a look.

Cholangiocarcinoma refers to a malignant tumor originating from the extrahepatic bile duct, including the bile duct from the liver hilar area to the lower end of the common bile duct. Its etiology may be related to diseases such as bile duct stones and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Clinical treatment methods include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc., but the prognosis is poor.

There are more and more patients suffering from bile duct cancer, but correspondingly, there are more and more treatments for the disease. However, the choice of treatment method needs to be considered in combination with one's own specific situation, and it cannot be treated randomly, otherwise it will not only fail to cure the disease, but also make the condition worse.

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1. Surgery

The treatment principle of bile duct cancer is to mainly perform surgical resection in early cases, and to combine radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery to consolidate and improve the effect of surgical treatment. For advanced cases that cannot be resected, biliary drainage surgery should be performed to control bile duct infection, improve liver function, reduce complications, prolong life, and improve quality of life.

2. Radiation therapy

Surgical resection is the only radical treatment for cholangiocarcinoma. Adjuvant radiotherapy can only improve the patient's survival rate. For unresectable and locally metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, radiotherapy can improve the patient's symptoms and prolong life after effective biliary drainage. However, cholangiocarcinoma has always been considered a tumor that is not sensitive to radiation. The survival period of radiotherapy is generally reported to be 9 to 12 months.

3. Chemotherapy

Cholangiocarcinoma is not sensitive to chemotherapy and is less sensitive to chemotherapy than other gastrointestinal tumors such as colon cancer. However, chemotherapy can relieve the symptoms caused by cholangiocarcinoma, improve the quality of life of patients, and may also prolong survival.