Whenever possible surgery is the main treatment for bile duct cancers.
Can stage 4 bile duct cancer be cured.
Bile duct cancer is a rare disease in which malignant cancer cells form in the bile ducts.
It offers the only realistic chance for a cure.
For example if the 5 year relative survival rate for a specific stage of bile duct cancer cholangiocarcinoma is 30 it means that people who have that cancer are on average about 30 as likely as people who don t have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.
A second opinion can give you more information and help you feel more confident about the treatment plan you choose.
If you have advanced bile duct cancer it might be very hard to treat.
Bile duct bypass surgery.
The cancer is on the surgical bed liver and intestine connection along with scar tissue.
Typically the surgeon either inserts a tube to hold the duct open or.
Biopsies or cell washings can be obtained to look for cancer cells.
Dye can be injected through the tube into the bile duct opening to outline the bile ducts and detect obstruction.
In others it may never go away entirely.
A network of tubes called ducts connects the liver gallbladder and small intestine this network begins in the liver where many small ducts collect bile a fluid made by the liver to break down fats during digestion the small ducts come together to form the right and left hepatic ducts which lead.
Finding out the cancer cannot be cured can be very hard news to take in.
It cannot be distinguished how much is tumor and or scar tissue.
You may need regular doses of chemotherapy radiation or other treatments to keep it in check.
Even if your cancer can t be cured you can have surgery to treat the blocked bile ducts and relieve some of your symptoms.
There are three kinds of surgery that may be done for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Resectable cancers those that doctors believe can be removed completely by surgery based on the results of imaging tests and other tests.
If time permits it is often a good idea to seek a second opinion particularly for a rare cancer like bile duct cancer.
If this is the case the aim of your treatment will be to limit the cancer and its symptoms and help you live longer.
For some people treatment can destroy the cancer.
Diagnosed in 2007 with tumor in my bile duct had surgery dec 2007 to remove the bile duct with the tumor in it.
Bypass surgery is an option if the tumor is blocking the common bile duct.
It may not be possible to cure the cancer.