[Case of papillary cholangiocarcinoma with curative resection after long-term follow-up]

An asymptomatic 78-year-old woman with anemia had undergone abdominal ultrasonography 6 years ago, which revealed a 7-cm hepatic tumor. The patient was regularly followed-up assuming that the tumor was a hepatic hemangioma with cyst. However, the tumor gradually increased in size. Abdominal CT and MRI revealed that the tumor comprised a mixture of cystic and solid components, and there was dilation of the bile duct. A clinical diagnosis of intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct was made. Caudate and right hepatic lobectomy was performed. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was a papillary adenocarcinoma. This case, in which the patient was followed for 6 years before curative surgical treatment, is significant, because it demonstrates the slow-growing nature of this tumor.