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Mini-symposium
Cholangiocarcinoma: Update and future perspectives
Digestive and Liver Disease
Vol. 42Issue 4p253–260Published online: January 25, 2010
- Manuela Gatto
- Maria Consiglia Bragazzi
- Rossella Semeraro
- Cristina Napoli
- Raffaele Gentile
- Alessia Torrice
- and others
Cited in Scopus: 163
Cholangiocarcinoma is commonly considered a rare cancer. However, if we consider the hepato-biliary system a single entity, cancers of the gallbladder, intra-hepatic and extra-hepatic biliary tree altogether represent approximately 30% of the total with incidence rates close to that of hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the third most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. In addition, cholangiocarcinoma is characterized by a very poor prognosis and virtually no response to chemotherapeutics; radical surgery, the only effective treatment, is not frequently applicable because late diagnosis.