Department of Clinical Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Rome Sapienza, Polo Pontino, R. Rosselini 51, Rome, Italy.
Dig Liver Dis. 2010 Apr;42(4):253-60. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2009.12.008. Epub 2010 Jan 22.
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. Biomarkers for screening programs and for follow-up of categories at risk are under investigation, however, currently none of the proposed markers has reached clinical application. For all these considerations, cancers of the biliary tree system should merit much more scientific attention also because a progressive increase in incidence and mortality for these cancers has been reported worldwide. This manuscript deals with the most recent advances in the epidemiology, biology and clinical presentation of cholangiocarcinoma.
胆管癌通常被认为是一种罕见的癌症。然而，如果我们将肝胆系统视为一个整体，那么胆囊、肝内和肝外胆管的癌症加起来约占总数的 30%，其发病率与全球第三大常见癌症死亡原因——肝细胞癌相近。此外，胆管癌的预后非常差，对化疗几乎没有反应；根治性手术是唯一有效的治疗方法，但由于诊断较晚，并非经常适用。目前正在研究用于筛查计划和高危人群随访的生物标志物，但尚未有一种提出的标志物达到临床应用。鉴于所有这些考虑因素，胆管系统的癌症应该引起更多的科学关注，因为全世界都报告了这些癌症的发病率和死亡率呈上升趋势。本文述及了胆管癌在流行病学、生物学和临床表现方面的最新进展。
