Experience of non-jaundiced cholangiocarcinoma

In an endemic areas of the NE region of Thailand the "liver mass" of non-jaundiced cholangiocarcinoma is another major form of clinical presentation in 14%. Between December 1983 and December 1984, twenty-nine cases of such a presentation were studied. All cases were submitted to exploration and primary tumor removal whenever possible, regardless of the severity of the pathology. The results of this palliative surgical procedure in this non-jaundiced presentation are far better as compared with the jaundiced cholangiocarcinoma, both in terms of quality of life and survival time. Among the twenty-nine cases, 14 died during the first postoperative year, 5 during the second, and 5 during the third, the remaining 5 surviving the third year and still alive and well at the end of the fifth year, in December 1988. Specific tumor markers for early detection are needed to improve surgical results.