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Bile Duct Cancer

May 30, 2019 | Margaret Shepard | @Margaret_Marie | Comments (12)

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The bile ducts are a series of thin tubes that connect your liver to your gallbladder, your small intestine. Their major job is to move a fluid called bile from the liver and gallbladder into the small intestine where it helps digest fats in the food. Cancer of the bile duct, called cholangiocarcinoma, is an uncommon form of cancer that occurs mostly in people older than age of 50, but it can occur at any age.

Because the bile ducts are deep inside the body, small tumors can’t be seen or felt during routine physical exams, and there are no blood tests or other tests that can reliably screen for bile duct cancers. Because of this, most bile duct cancers are found only after the cancer has grown enough to cause signs or symptoms.

Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Dr. Bret Petersen discusses bile duct cancer on this segment of Mayo Clinic Radio.

 

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emd52 | @emd52 | May 23, 2023

Very informative however the volume is low.
In the future could the audio be louder? I checked my computer and the volume is on high.
Thank you and keep up the good work!

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egoodies | @egoodies | Aug 14, 2023
In reply to @afrancesca "Thank you for this informative video about bile duct cancer/cholangiocarcioma. I urge anyone who has been..." + (show)
@afrancesca

Thank you for this informative video about bile duct cancer/cholangiocarcioma. I urge anyone who has been diagnosed with this cancer--regardless of the staging---to visit the link below to The Cholangiocarcinmoma Foudation. The foundation is THE place to find out about the developments in research, targeted and immunotherapy treatments, surgery, transplant, etc... that Dr. Peterson discusses in this podcast. For those of you who live and are treated in Arizona, there are two of us---Michael and myself(Andrea)---who volunteer with The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation as patient mentors. We are also patients here at Mayo Phoenix. Contact the foundation and ask to be connected to one of us. We know many, many patients who are doing well on innovative treatments. The Mayo Clinic oncologists, surgeons, and researchers are some of the most well known leaders in breakthrough therapies/treatments. The Foundation has a conference every year in Salt Lake which brings together bile duct patients, caregivers, oncologists, researchers, etc. from all over the world. All the information about how to attend this conference is on the Foundation website below. I am 48 years old and have been living with advanced unresectable bile duct cancer for 3 1/2 years now and thanks to a drug trial at the Mayo which targets my cancer mutation (FGFR2)-- I have had relatively stable disease for almost 2 1/2 years(in counting :), I am able to manage the drug's side effects and at the same time live a high quality of life. Connecting with other patients going through the same diagnosis through the foundation and at their yearly conference has been a crucial part of my non-medical "treatment"---it's given me hope and a supportive community to connect with. Join us!
https://cholangiocarcinoma.org

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Andrea I was recently diagnosed and was wondering how your treatment was going. I am scared and wanted to know if you have any advice.

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