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Carcinoma of the Biliary Tract
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Normal |
Abnormal |
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- Usually found when a surgeon is
looking for gallstone disease. It tends to grow slowly but
silently, so it may have already invaded into the liver by
the time it is found. Symptoms often do not occur until the
disease is advanced.
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- Yellow skin
- Yellow eyes
- Pain in right upper abdomen
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Fever/chills
- Diffuse skin
itching
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- Unknown
- Gallstones are found, but there is
no clear association with the development of cancer
- Women have higher rate of this
cancer than men.
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- Yellow skin
- Yellow eyes
- Mass felt in right upper abdomen
- Enlarged liver
- Ascites (fluid in
abdomen)
- Elevated Bilirubin
level
- Elevated Alkaline phosphatase level
- Cholesterol is elevated
- CA 19-9 (a cancer marker) may be elevated
- ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiography)
- Percutaneous trans-hepatic cholangiography
- Both tests are ways to look at the gallbladder, and
perform a biopsy on
it.
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- See your physician immediately. If
this condition is caught early, there is a good chance for
survival. Unfortunately, since it often does not have
symptoms until late in the disease, it often proves fatal.
If you have any suspicion, see your doctor as soon as
possible.
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