Current Perspectives on the Surgical Management of Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represents nearly 15% of all primary liver cancers and 2% of all cancer-related deaths worldwide. Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) accounts for 50-60% of all CCA. First described in 1965, pCCAs arise between the second-order bile ducts and the insertion of the cystic duct into the common bile duct. CCA typically has an insidious onset and commonly presents with advanced, unresectable disease. Complete surgical resection is technically challenging, as tumor proximity to the structures of the central liver often necessitates an extended hepatectomy to achieve negative margins. Intraoperative frozen section can aid in assuring negative margins and complete resection. Portal lymphadenectomy provides important prognostic and staging information. In specialized centers, vascular resection and reconstruction can be performed to achieve negative margins in appropriately selected patients. In addition, minimally invasive surgical techniques (e.g., robotic surgery) are safe, feasible, and provide equivalent short-term oncologic outcomes. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by liver transplantation provides a potentially curative option for patients with unresectable disease. New trials are needed to investigate novel chemotherapies, immunotherapies, and targeted therapies to better control systemic disease in the adjuvant setting and, potentially, downstage disease in the neoadjuvant setting.