How to treat biliary tract cancer

The liver is like our body’s control center. Carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid and protein metabolism, fat metabolism, bile acid metabolism, vitamin and mineral metabolism, hormone metabolism, detoxification, sterilization, etc. So if something goes wrong, it can be life threatening. If you are curious about biliary cancer, see below.

What is biliary cancer?

Biliary cancer refers to cancer cells that occur in the biliary tract, where bile produced by the liver reaches the duodenum. Depending on the location, it is divided into intrahepatic biliary cancer and extrahepatic biliary cancer. Intrahepatic biliary cancer is said to belong to liver cancer. General biliary cancer is adenocarcinoma, that is, cancer that occurs in gland cells.

It is divided into upper, middle, and lower biliary tract cancers depending on the site of occurrence. Upper biliary cancer accounts for about 50%, and the rest account for 20-30%.

What is the biliary tract?

Bile secreted by the liver helps digest fat. The path by which this substance reaches the duodenum is called the biliary tract. The gallbladder is located under the liver and temporarily stores bile. The gallbladder duct is also connected to the biliary tract.

The shape of the biliary tract is similar to a similar branch. The thick bile ducts are formed on the left and right sides, and capillary biliary tracts are joined in stages.

Biliary cancer survival rate

Biliary duct cancer has different survival rates depending on where it occurs. In the case of intrahepatic biliary tract cancer, the 3-year survival rate is 45-60%, the 5-year survival rate for hepatic biliary tract cancer is 7-15%, and the 5-year survival rate for distal burden duct cancer is 15-28%. Biliary duct cancer was ranked 9th in the domestic cancer incidence in 2017, and male and female sex ratio was 1.1:1, which was more common among men.

The most common age group was in their 70s, followed by 80s and 60s. It is reported that the incidence of biliary cancer is higher than that of gallbladder cancer, and the data were provided by the data from the Central Cancer Registry.

Causes of biliary cancer

The exact cause of biliary cancer is not yet known. However, it is reported that 20-30% of patients have gallstones, which is related to absences. Risk factors that can cause cancer include:

Parasitic hepatitis, sclerosing cholangitis and chronic ulcerative colitis, bile duct stones and bile duct adenoma, smoking and obesity, exposure to biliary tract cancer inducers, etc.
Biliary cancer occurs a lot in the 50s and 70s age group. It is said that liver dysstoma, which is infected when freshwater fish is consumed, causes infection, and this inflammation can lead to biliary cancer.

How to prevent biliary cancer

There are no screening criteria for preventing biliary tract cancer yet. Minimizing the risk factors mentioned above can be the best prevention method. Freshwater fish must be cooked and eaten, and if there are stones in the liver, it is recommended to remove it. Also, if you have a liver or surrounding disease, you should seek timely treatment.

Attitude and proper exercise are also important factors in cancer prevention. Eating right and getting enough rest can prevent all diseases.

Biliary cancer treatment

Treatment is selected according to the size and location of the tumor, the patient’s age and health. Because biliary tract cancer has no characteristic symptoms, early diagnosis is quite difficult. At the time of diagnosis, cancer has already spread to surrounding major organs and tissue resection is not possible.

However, even if resection is not possible, open surgery is sometimes performed to improve cholestasis and cholangitis, which are the major causes of death for patients. In addition, intubation is also performed as a non-surgical treatment. These days, intubation has a high success rate.

1. Surgical treatment

Resection is essential for surgery, and it is said that the resection rate is high for middle and lower biliary tract cancer. Upper biliary tract cancer is relatively low. Hepatic biliary cancer, distal biliary tract cancer, etc., are different and can be quite complex surgery.

2. Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a treatment that kills cancer cells. It inhibits the growth or proliferation of cancer cells and is administered by eating or by injection. In the case of anti-cancer, it is difficult to perform surgery or to prevent the growth of remaining cancer cells after surgery. The treatment cycle and duration depend on the patient’s condition.

3. Radiation therapy

When complete resection of biliary tract cancer is difficult, resection is not possible but has not metastasized. It is also used to relieve symptoms of pain or bleeding caused by a tumor.

Biliary tract cancer treatment status

There is no way to cure biliary cancer with medicine yet. Early diagnosis is the best way, and only 40-50% of cases can be resected. Although the growth rate of biliary tract cancer is gentle, very complex treatments are sometimes required depending on where it occurs. HOME