Bile duct cancer is a rare type of cancer that originates in the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the intestine. The most common type of this cancer is adenocarcinoma, which grows from the glands that produce mucus in these ducts. It can be found in both the ducts within the liver (intrahepatic) and those outside the liver (extrahepatic).

 

Symptoms for bile duct cancer

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This type of cancer usually does not cause symptoms until advanced disease is found; however, some patients may notice yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), itching, pain, bloating, nausea, and weight loss.

 

Treatment for bile duct cancer

 

Surgery is the treatment of bile duct cancer that has not yet spread. This may include removing the involved duct with adjacent liver tissue and lymph nodes; sometimes more extensive surgery is necessary. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy may also be used as an adjunct to surgery or in patients who do not benefit from surgery.

 

Gallbladder cancer is a type of cancer that originates in the gallbladder, which is a small pear-shaped organ that is located next to the liver, whose function is to store bile that is used to digest fats from the liver. foods. It is a rare cancer and usually affects older people.

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It usually does not have symptoms until it is advanced, and the symptoms are similar to those of bile duct cancer such as abdominal distension, pain, fever, fatigue and jaundice. The most common type of gallbladder cancer is adenocarcinoma, although there are other rarer types such as non-papillary, papillary, and mucinous adenocarcinoma.

 

Risk factors for this type of cancer include: being older than 70 years, having a disease called "porcelain gallbladder" in which the gallbladder becomes filled with calcium deposits, obesity, gallbladder polyps, and a family history of gallbladder cancer.

 

Regarding treatment, surgery is the one that offers the best chance of cure and, in tumors that have not gone beyond the gallbladder, radical cholecystectomy is the procedure of choice. In this procedure, the gallbladder is removed along with surrounding lymph nodes and some liver tissue. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used for tumors on which surgery can no longer be performed.