Almost all body tissues have the potential to develop various types of cancer. You have different types of adenocarcinoma in secretory tissue. There are different types of lymphoma in lymphoid tissue. Epithelial lymphoma can form in the skin and line the inner organs. The most common type of liver cancer is known as hepatocellular carcinoma. But did you know that the bile ducts can also develop a type of cancer? It is called Cholangiocarcinoma.
We’ll go over the most crucial Cholangiocarcinoma facts in this article. We will briefly discuss the characteristics and causes of the condition before examining the risk factors, warning indications, typical workup, and potential treatments.
What is Cholangiocarcinoma?
As mentioned in the introduction of this article, cholangiocarcinoma is a type of tumor that develops in the bile ducts. This tumor develops in the epithelial lining of the bile ducts, which is why the name ends with “carcinoma.”
There are different sections in the biliary tree, and we have bile ducts inside the liver and outside. Cholangiocarcinoma forms in what doctors call extrahepatic bile ducts, but they may also originate in bile ducts that still arise from the liver. Thus, we can see three types of cholangiocarcinoma depending on their location:
- Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, when the affected part of the bile ducts is still inside of the liver.
- Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, when the affected part of the bile ducts is outside of the liver but adjacent to the organ.
- Distal extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma occurs when the affected part of the bile ducts is outside the liver and separated from the organ.
The most common type of cholangiocarcinoma is called a perihilar tumor. These are located in a junction close to the gallbladder. They are considered a type of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
