[Biliary tract carcinomas. II. Biliary tract cancer]

The authors discuss the biliary tract carcinoma in the second paper on biliary tract carcinomas. It ranks second as regards frequency, being responsible for 4 per cent of the biliary operations. The analysis is based on 48 observations during the period 1952-1979 at the Chair of Abdominal Surgery - 31 males and 17 females (2:1). Morbidity rate is the highest among the patients aged from 40 to 60. The patients are admitted for operation up to the 1-2 months since the beginning of their complaints, mostly due to the lasting jaundice, present in all the patients (100%). Regardless of the application of the present methods, biliary ducts carcinoma remains a serious diagnostic and surgical problem. Those methods, however, are the only possible ones, for an earlier detection of the tumors, hence, for the improvement of the unsatisfactory, so far, operability, lethality and survival.