Cholangiocarcinoma has a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis, so it is regarded as one of the “king of cancers”.
Cholangiocarcinoma refers to malignant tumors occurring in the intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile ducts and originating from the epithelial cells of the bile ducts, which is less common than other malignant tumors.
Cholangiocarcinoma has a higher degree of malignancy, and the lesions can easily invade into the wall of bile ducts, liver, pancreas, as well as the surrounding blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatic tissues. Moreover, the disease starts insidiously, and the best time for treatment is often missed when it is detected. The overall prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma is poor, and early diagnosis and radical surgery are needed to improve the prognosis and survival rate.
Patients with cholangiocarcinoma often have progressive aggravating jaundice, which is manifested as yellow staining of skin sclera, grayish-white potter’s clay-like stools, strong tea-colored urine, which may be accompanied by abdominal pain, enlarged gallbladder, chills and high fever, malaise, weight loss, and other clinical manifestations.
The most effective treatment option for cholangiocarcinoma is surgery. Doctors will judge the stage of cholangiocarcinoma according to the pathological type of tumor, size and infiltration of primary foci, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, etc., and use this to determine the suitable surgical plan. For patients who cannot undergo radical resection, doctors may adopt other options such as radiotherapy and palliative treatment.