[Cholangiocarcinoma]

Cholangiocarcinoma, are uncommon cancers, and the least common of those categorized as liver and biliary tract cancers. May occur anywhere in the biliary tree. Patients typically present with painless jaundice and pruritus, cholangitis is uncommon. They are classified into three broad anatomic groups: Intrahepatic, perihilar and distal lesions. This classification system is useful for monitoring outcome, since intrahepatic tumors are usually managed as hepatocellular carcinoma with liver resection, and distal tumors are treated as pancreatic cancer with pancreatoduodenectomy. Perihilar lesions may be treated with a variety of operative and nonoperative therapies. Surgery is the only potentially curative treatment. Prognosis and resectability depend on tumor location along the biliary tree, the extent of hepatic parenchymal involvement and the invasion of major blood vessels by the tumor.