Premalignant Lesions of the Biliary Tract

Although the most common presentation of biliary disorder in North America is secondary to gallstone disease, an awareness of benign biliary cystic neoplasms is important because of the risk of malignant transformation. The incidence of premalignant cystic neoplasms of the bile duct is not well characterized and they often are detected incidentally for suspicion of other abdominal disorders. This article describes the 4 most common premalignant biliary cystic neoplasms: biliary mucinous cystic neoplasms, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the bile duct, intraductal tubular papillary neoplasms of the bile duct, and choledochal cysts.