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Treatment Options
Surgery is the only complete treatment of cholangiocarcinoma, and it is required to provide a cure to the disease. The tumor is very large in some cases, and it is impossible to take it out completely. Other treatments for cholangiocarcinoma include radiation therapy, phototherapy, and pharmacotherapy (chemotherapy). Palliative treatment is also important and depends on the emerging complications of the patient.
Doctors may recommend stent placement to provide symptomatic relief when tumors can’t be taken out. These stents would only help patients regain the normal flow of bile, solving many symptoms simultaneously. It is a biliary decompression technique that requires the surgical placement of metal nets or stents that keep the bile ducts open.
References
Razumilava, N., & Gores, G. J. (2014). Cholangiocarcinoma. The Lancet, 383(9935), 2168-2179.
Razumilava, N., & Gores, G. J. (2013). Classification, diagnosis, and management of cholangiocarcinoma. Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology, 11(1), 13-21.
Ghouri, Y. A., Mian, I., & Blechacz, B. (2015). Cancer review: cholangiocarcinoma. Journal of carcinogenesis, 14.
Ustundag, Y., & Bayraktar, Y. (2008). Cholangiocarcinoma: a compact review of the literature. World journal of gastroenterology: WJG, 14(42), 6458.
Cai, Y., Cheng, N., Ye, H., Li, F., Song, P., & Tang, W. (2016). The current management of cholangiocarcinoma: a comparison of current guidelines. Bioscience trends.
