Recurrence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma nine years after surgical resection

This paper reports a rare case of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) which recurred nine years after surgical resection. The patient underwent right hepatic trisegmentectomy with lymph node dissection and biliary tract reconstruction for a tumor in the right lobe of the liver. The patient was diagnosed with ICC, intraductal growth (IG) type. Nine years after the operation a rise of tumor markers and a recurrent lesion in the remnant liver were recognized and the patient underwent S2 subsegmentectomy with tumor thrombectomy and biliary tract reconstruction. The resected specimen showed well differentiated adenocarcinoma, which consisted of chiefly intraductal growth component. The patient is still alive 26 months after the second operation without recurrence. It is important to observe the patient carefully cosidering that it is possible for an IG type cholangiocarcinoma to recur a long time after surgical treatment, and surgical treatment for the recurrent tumor should be tried for long survival.