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Review
. 2018 Dec 20:12:13-23.
doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S186854. eCollection 2019.

Cholangiocarcinoma: a guide for the nonspecialist

Munirah Alsaleh  1 , Zoe Leftley  1 , Thomas A Barbera  1 , Paiboon Sithithaworn  2 , Narong Khuntikeo  2 , Watcharin Loilome  2 , Puangrat Yongvanit  2 , I Jane Cox  3 , Nittaya Chamodol  2 , Richard Ra Syms  4 , Ross H Andrews  1   2 , Simon D Taylor-Robinson  1
Affiliations
Review

Cholangiocarcinoma: a guide for the nonspecialist

Munirah Alsaleh et al. Int J Gen Med. .

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a tumor with increasing prevalence around the world. The prevalence of CCA is highest in East Asia and most significantly in the countries through which the Mekong River flows, owing to the presence of liver flukes, which are consumed in raw fish dishes. Outside Asia, the causes of bile duct cancers for the most part are unknown. In this review, we assess the current state of knowledge in both fluke-associated and sporadic CCA, from etiological, diagnostic, and treatment perspectives.

Keywords: bile ducts; cholangiocarcinoma; diagnosis; etiology; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure MA was funded by the StratiGrad PhD programme at Imperial College, London. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Locations of CCA in the biliary tree. Note: iCCAs arise within the hepatic biliary ducts, perihilar in the bile duct bifurcation, and distal tumors arise anywhere along the common biliary duct outside the liver. Abbreviations: CCA, cholangiocarcinoma; iCCA, intrahepatic CCA.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated global CCA incidence. Notes: World map showing CCA incidence per 100,000 (left), and incidence of CCA and prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini in Thailand from 1990 to 2001 (right). %OV=Opisthorchis viverrini prevalence. Adapted from Bragazzi M, Cardinale V, Carpino G. Cholangiocarcinoma: epidemiology and risk factors. Transl Gastrointest Cancer. 2012;1(1):21–32 with permission from AME Publishing Company (left) and Data from Keiser and Utzinger (right). Abbreviation: CCA, cholangiocarcinoma.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Liver fluke life cycle.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Morphologic classification of CCA. Note: The gross appearance of CCA tumors can present with three patterns of growth: mass-forming, periductal infiltrating, and intraductal. Abbreviation: CCA, cholangiocarcinoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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