Bile Duct Cancer – Dr Parthasarathy

What is Bile Duct Cancer?
Bile duct cancer begins in the bile duct. So, for better understanding, we need to know about the bile duct. The bile ducts are the series of tiny thin tubes through which fluid named bile is transported from liver and gallbladder to the small intestine to help the digestion process. Left and right hepatic ducts that exit from the liver meet together to form common hepatic duct at a point called hilum. Down to the gallbladder, this hepatic duct meets a small duct named cystic duct. This is called common bile duct. This common bile duct passes through pancreas and meets with the pancreatic duct that empties in the small intestine at the ampulla of Vater. These are the entire bile duct system and depending on the location, bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) is classified into following three types:

Intrahepatic bile duct cance, this cancer starts to grow in the tiny bile duct branches of the liver.
Perihilar or hilar bile duct cancer, this cancer develops at the hilum, joining the area of the left and right hepatic ducts just leaving the liver.
Distal bile duct cancer, this cancer grows down the bile duct and closer to the small intestine.