What Is Bile Duct Cancer? Health Article

To help you understand what is happening when you have cancer, it helps to understand how your body works normally. Our bodies are made up of tiny building blocks called cells. Normal cells grow and multiply when the body needs them, and die out when the body does not need them. Cancer is made up of abnormal cells that grow whether your body needs them or not.

Bile duct cancer can develop in any part of the bile ducts. The bile ducts are thin tubes that transport bile from the liver to the gallbladder and from the gallbladder to the small intestine. This cancer may cause different symptoms, depending on where it starts.

• Perihilar or proximal bile duct cancers develop where the main right and left bile ducts join as they are leaving the liver. About 66% of bile duct cancers are in this area.

• Distal bile duct cancers develop in the common bile duct near the first part of the small intestine. About 33% of bile duct cancers are in this area.

• Intrahepatic bile duct cancers develop in the tiny bile ducts inside the liver. A small percentage of bile duct cancers are this type.

Most bile duct cancers--about 95%--fit into a category of cancers called adenocarcinomas. Bile duct adenocarcinoma forms in mucous glands lining the bile ducts. It is also called biliary adenocarcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma.

If an adenocarcinoma starts in another organ, such as the pancreas, colon, or lung, it may spread to the liver. Then it is considered metastasis in the liver.