How aggressive is bile duct cancer?
The 5-year survival rate for intrahepatic bile duct cancer is 9%. If the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the 5-year survival rate is 25%. If the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is 8%. If the cancer has spread to a distant part of the body, the 5-year survival rate is 2%.
Can bile duct cancer be cured?
If you have advanced bile duct cancer it might be very hard to treat. It may not be possible to cure the cancer. If this is the case, the aim of your treatment will be to limit the cancer and its symptoms, and help you live longer. Finding out the cancer cannot be cured can be very hard news to take in.
What is the life expectancy of someone with bile duct cancer?
In patients who have bile duct cancer located in the liver hilum, 40%-60% of patients undergo surgery that completely removes the tumor and the average survival is 24 months. For patients with tumor in the same location, but cannot be completely removed, average survival is 21 months.
Is bile duct cancer a death sentence?
Overall: one in every two to five people will live at least five years if bile duct cancer is caught early on and surgery is carried out to try to remove it. one in every 50 people will live at least five years if it’s caught at a later stage and surgery to remove it isn’t possible.
What is the number one cause of bile duct cancer?
The exact cause of bile duct cancer is unknown. However, some things may increase your chances of developing the condition. The most common include being over 65 years old or having a rare chronic liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).
Does bile duct cancer spread quickly?
They grow faster and are more likely to spread. The grade of cancer can help predict how quickly the cancer might grow. How is bile duct cancer treated? The treatment you get depends on many things such as the tumour’s type, its location, stage and grade.
Can bile duct cancer go into remission?
So far, several cases have been reported, in which advanced cholangiocarcinoma was completely treated with gemcitabine chemotherapy in Japan,17–20 although only one of them has shown complete remission histopathologically.