What do you understand by the bile duct?
Bile ducts are a chain of long thin tubes that links the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine. Bile, a greenish-yellow secretion produced by the liver, is carried by the bile duct. Bile contains cholesterol and salt, which helps in digesting food. It also contains bilirubin, a waste product.
What is bile duct cancer?
Cholangiocarcinomas or bile duct cancer is a rare condition when malignant or cancer cells form in the bile duct and sometimes can spread to other body parts. It mostly happens to people above 50.
Types of bile duct cancer
Hilar cholangiocarcinoma – occurs in the part of the bile duct that exit the liver
Distal cholangiocarcinoma – occurs in the part of the bile duct that is closest to the small intestine
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma – It is also known as a type of liver cancer that occurs in the part of the bile duct, which is inside the liver
Symptoms
The bile duct cancer symptoms are:
Intensely itchy skin
Fever
Sudden weight loss
Jaundice
Pain in the abdomen
White coloured stool
Fatigue, vomiting and nausea
Treatments
If someone is diagnosed with bile duct cancer, the doctor makes a treatment chart depending on the following factors:
The patient’s overall health
The extent of bile duct cancer
In case of resectable cancers, doctors completely remove the tumour by performing an operation
Due to its positioning, unresectable cancers cannot be removed by surgery; it requires other treatments
Based on these points, the doctor decides the treatment, which could be – chemotherapy, surgery, liver transplant, radiation therapy or biliary drainage. In the case of resectable cancer, curative surgery is considered the best to cure bile duct cancer. As the surgery is complex, it should be done by an expert. For unresectable cancer, instead of surgery, a liver transplant is recommended, says the best bile duct cancer doctor.
0 Comments