INTRODUCTION

Despite a rising incidence worldwide, cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) is one of the infrequent malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract. The surgical approach depends largely on the location of the tumour.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Since 1995, 425 consecutive patients with cholangiocarcinoma were seen at our hospital; their data were prospectively entered in our cancer registry. Tumour-specific data were now retrospectively analysed for prognostic value.

RESULTS

Resection with primarily curative intent was performed in 183 of the 425 patients; resection rates were 36 % for intrahepatic (66 patients), 44 % for hilar (69 patients) and 56 % for distal cholangiocarcinoma (48 patients). R0-resection was achieved in 152 patients (83 %) and was found to be the most important factor determining survival. With respect to intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, clinical T3- and T4-categories, lymph node metastases as well as UICC stages III and IV had negative predictive value; in hilar carcinomas, this was only seen for the last two factors. In distal cholangiocarcinoma, a low degree of differentiation was associated with a poor prognosis. No differences in survival were seen in the presence of perineural infiltration, angioinvasion or elevation of tumour marker CA 19 - 9.  Regarding the surgical techniques, we found a survival benefit for limited liver resection in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, which is explained by earlier tumour stages seen in these cases, as well as the performance of trisectionectomy or liver transplantation in hilar carcinomas.

CONCLUSIONS

Comparable to other malignant gastrointestinal tumours, radical surgery represents the most important prognostic factor in cholangiocarcinomas; for hilar tumours, a survival advantage is seen after extended resections (trisectionectomy or liver transplantation) if compared to more limited resections. At the time of presentation, however, the stage of disease was incurable in most patients, thus accounting for the low overall resection rates.