Distal cholangiocarcinoma is an uncommon malignancy and early diagnosis remains a challenge. More accurate diagnostic modalities for early-stage diagnosis are needed. Advances in medical therapy and neoadjuvant treatment may aid surgery and further improve postoperative outcomes. Margin-negative resection in conjunction with thorough nodal dissection is the strongest prognostic factor. Surgical resection coupled with adjuvant therapy provides the most favorable outcome. Future efforts should be aimed at reducing surgical complications and improving medical therapy, leading to overall improvement in perioperative and long-term outcomes for patients with this disorder.
Key points
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Distal cholangiocarcinoma is an uncommon malignancy, and early diagnosis remains a challenge.
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More accurate diagnostic modalities for early-stage diagnosis are needed.
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Advances in medical therapy and neoadjuvant treatment may aid surgery and further improve postoperative outcomes.
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Margin-negative resection in conjunction with thorough nodal dissection is the strongest prognostic factor.
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Surgical resection coupled with adjuvant therapy provides the most favorable outcome.
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Future efforts should be aimed at reducing surgical complications and improving medical therapy, with overall improvement in perioperative and long-term outcomes for patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma.
Incidence
Worldwide cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is a relatively uncommon cancer accounting for approximately 3% of all diagnosed gastrointestinal malignancies, comprising tumors arising anywhere in the biliary tree. The incidence of CC is rising, and it is estimated that more than 10,000 cases of extrahepatic CC and gallbladder carcinoma combined will be diagnosed in the United States in 2013. Distal cholangiocarcinoma (DCC) is defined as CC of the common bile duct (from the cystic duct to the ampulla of Vater), and represents 20% to 40% of the total.
Incidence
Worldwide cholangiocarcinoma (CC) is a relatively uncommon cancer accounting for approximately 3% of all diagnosed gastrointestinal malignancies, comprising tumors arising anywhere in the biliary tree. The incidence of CC is rising, and it is estimated that more than 10,000 cases of extrahepatic CC and gallbladder carcinoma combined will be diagnosed in the United States in 2013. Distal cholangiocarcinoma (DCC) is defined as CC of the common bile duct (from the cystic duct to the ampulla of Vater), and represents 20% to 40% of the total.
Classification
CC has been conventionally classified according to anatomic location as intrahepatic (ICC), perihilar (PCC), and distal (DCC). The perihilar and distal subtypes are together classified as extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC). Tumors arising in the upper third of extrahepatic bile duct (ie, above the confluence of cystic and common hepatic duct) are called perihilar tumors. Mid–bile duct tumors arise between the confluence of cystic duct and common bile duct and the upper border of the duodenum. Distal bile duct tumors arise in the duodenal and intrapancreatic portion of bile duct up to papilla of Vater; however, they are distinct from ampullary carcinoma. The mid–bile duct group of tumors is uncommon, and is often included within discussions of DCC. When amenable, DCCs are usually managed with pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD).
Etiology
Most cases of CC are sporadic and occur de novo without any identifiable risk factors. Approximately 10% of CCs are known to occur in the presence of chronic inflammation within the biliary tract and injury to ductal epithelium, causing a compensatory increase in mitotic activity, thereby increasing the likelihood of mutation and dysplasia. Many of the following described conditions create such a chronic inflammatory state within the biliary tree.
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is thought to be an autoimmune disease with an increased prevalence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles A1, B8, and DR3, resulting in cholestatic liver disease characterized by diffuse inflammation and fibrosis of the intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts. Patients with PSC are at a significantly higher risk than the general population of developing CC. Incidence of CC in PSC is roughly 15%, and nearly half of the patients with CC are detected at the same time or within a year of the diagnosis of patients harboring PSC. The presence of occult CC has been found to be as high as 40% in autopsy specimens of PSC patients. In prospectively assessed population studies, the risk of developing CC appears to be 1% per year in patients with PSC.
Patients with PSC and concomitant inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease) are at a significantly increased risk of developing CC, with ECC being more commonly associated with Crohn disease. Medical and surgical therapy does not appear to alter the risk of CC in this subset of patients.
The incidence of DCC is approximately 13% in the setting of PSC. Chronic inflammation leads to dysplastic changes in the epithelium and subsequent malignant transformation in the distal bile duct. The coexistence of PSC and CC may confuse and delay the diagnosis, which may ultimately increase in the number of patients with unresectable tumors at presentation.
Choledochal Cyst
Choledochal cyst disease represents congenital or acquired ectasia of the biliary tree, presumably caused by malunion of the pancreatic duct and common bile duct (CBD). The pancreatic duct joins the CBD proximal to the sphincter complex of Oddi, causing reflux and stasis of pancreatic enzymes proximally into the bile duct, which may be an important factor leading to carcinogenesis in choledochal cysts.
Although congenital choledochal cysts are more commonly found in girls in the first decade of life, recent series suggest that the number of adults presenting with choledochal cyst disease is increasing. Adults harboring choledochal cysts tend to have an increased incidence of biliary carcinoma, which can be explained by an increasing rate of intestinal metaplasia in the wall of choledochal cysts with advancing age. Complete cyst excision is the standard of care in these patients, owing to an increased lifetime risk of development of CC in untreated patients.
Parasitic Infestation
The liver flukes, Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini , are proven carcinogenic agents for CC, especially in the endemic regions of East Asia. The global estimate of C sinensis infection is 35 million persons, of whom 15 million are estimated to be in China, whereas that of O viverrini is 10 million, of whom 8 million are in Thailand. These food-borne trematodes chronically infect the bile ducts, cause oxidative DNA damage of the biliary epithelium, and induce malignant transformation. There is a 5-fold increase over that of general population for developing CC with either clonorchiasis or opisthorciasis infection. The annual incidence of CC attributed to liver flukes in Thailand is nearly 5000 persons, whereas the annual global incidence ranges between 8000 to 10,000 individuals. Praziquantel (Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Germany), an antihelminth, is the mainstay of treatment. Improvements in sanitation and educational campaigns can help reduce the incidence of infection by these helminths.
Cholelithiasis
Incidence of chronic cholelithiasis and hepatolithiasis has been reported as a risk factor for development of ECC. The occurrence of CC appears to decline with time after cholecystectomy. Large population-based studies have failed to establish a direct causal relationship between CC and choledocholithiasis.
Toxins used for a variety of reasons can induce CC. One such toxin is thorotrast, which was used as a radiologic contrast agent in the early and mid-1900s and was found to be associated with an increased incidence of CC, and was thus banned. The estimated latency from exposure to diagnosis of malignancy ranges between 16 and 45 years. A large series from Germany reported an increased mortality resulting from toxin exposure, which is corroborated by findings in other work.
Biliary papillomatosis is a rare disease characterized by the presence of multiple papillary adenomas lining the mucosa of the biliary tract. This premalignant condition has high malignant potential. The incidence of carcinoma can be as high as 83% in patients harboring multifocal papillary adenomas. The mucin-producing variant has been associated with poorer outcome in comparison with non–mucin-producing biliary papillomatosis.
Smoking appears to carry a weak association with ECC development, and may contribute to an increased incidence of CC in patients with PSC.
Alcohol consumption, alcoholic liver disease, and nonspecific cirrhosis are reported have strong associations with ECC in various hospital-based case-control studies. Although moderate alcohol consumption is not clearly linked, heavy alcohol use may be associated with a 2- to 15-fold increase in the risk of developing CC.
Other factors that may be associated with the development of CC include hepatitis viruses B and C, although the existing data are scarce and too inconclusive to establish a direct association with CC.
Diabetes mellitus, chronic pancreatitis, and thyrotoxicosis are reported to be associated with a higher risk of ECC. Obesity was not recognized to be directly associated with ECC ; however, data are too limited to draw any conclusions. Rare associations of papillitis and cytomegalovirus inclusions have been reported in patients diagnosed with DCC. A comprehensive list of various known risk factors is given in Table 1 .
| Stronger Risk Factors | Weaker Risk Factors |
|---|---|
|
|
Pathology
Grossly, CC is classified into sclerosing, nodular, and papillary subtypes. Sclerosing (schirrhous) tumors, which comprise more than 80% of CCs, are associated with intense desmoplasia and longitudinal infiltration along the ducts, with a low resectability rate. These tumors tend to be highly invasive and are more commonly found in hilar rather than distal bile ducts. Nodular tumors are characterized by a firm, irregular masses projecting into the lumen. Sometimes nodular tumors appear to be constricting annular lesions, and are frequently described as nodular-sclerosing. The papillary variant forms nearly 10% of all CCs, presents as a bulky exophytic mass, often arises from a well-defined stalk projecting into the bile duct lumen, and is more commonly found in the distal bile ducts. The papillary subtype is more often resectable in comparison with the other variants, and has a more favorable prognosis.
Microscopically, greater than 90% of CCs are well-differentiated and mucin-producing adenocarcinomas. Other rare histologic types include squamous cell carcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma, and clear-cell carcinoma.
Two types of precursor lesions have been proposed in the carcinogenesis of CC: intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct (IPNB) and biliary intraepithelial neoplasia (BilIN). BilIN is a microscopic premalignant, noninvasive neoplastic lesion that can progress to tubular adenocarcinoma against a background of chronic inflammation via grades BilIN-1, BilIN-2, and BilIN-3, based on the degree of cellular atypia. IPNB is a macroscopic papillary growth of atypical biliary epithelium, which occurs in association with chronic inflammatory conditions and produces mucin. It has been characterized as IPNB-1 (premalignant or borderline) and IPNB-2 (carcinoma in situ) using the World Health Organization criteria for pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. IPNB can progress to either mucinous carcinoma or tubular adenocarcinoma. The biological behavior and prognosis of mucinous carcinoma are considerably more favorable than those of tubular adenocarcinoma.
Tumors arising in intra-ampullary segments of the CBD are now classified as ampullary-ductal carcinomas by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/Union for International Cancer Control.
Molecular pathogenesis
The mechanism of cholangiocarcinogenesis is a multistep process that evolves from normal biliary epithelial cells through chronic inflammation and cellular damage, ultimately leading to malignant transformation of cholangiocytes. The following are the main cell-cycle pathways implicated in cholangiocarcinogenesis:
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Interleukin-6, against the background of chronic inflammation, has mitogenic effects on malignant cholangiocytes and decreases the expression of p21, a cell-cycle controller protein.
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The JAK/STAT pathway is one of the key signaling cascades that imparts resistance toward apoptosis for CC cells, and has been found to responsive to sorafenib in animal models.
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Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, a cytokine, and Smad-4, a tumor suppressor gene downstream of TGF-β signaling, disrupt the cell cycle and are involved in tumor progression.
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ErbB-2 proto-oncogene coded receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB-2 is overexpressed in malignant cholangiocytes and plays a major role in the progression of disease.
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Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), the inducible isoform of the enzyme cyclooxygenase, is increased in the presence of inflammation and is upregulated in CC, especially in patients affected with PSC. Inducible nitric oxide synthase has also been implicated in biliary tract carcinogenesis by damaging the DNA repair system, causing oxidative DNA damage, and stimulating COX-2 expression.
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Malignant cells are known to have a higher threshold to the antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-2, which is overexpressed.
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Vascular endothelial growth factor mediates adaptive proliferative response to cholestasis in cholangiocytes.
Clinical presentation
CC has overlapping clinical features with other perihilar and periampullary tumors. Adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head may present in similar fashion to DCC and may pose a diagnostic dilemma, as medical therapy for these 2 cancer types differs. Both tumor types typically present with painless jaundice, abdominal pain, and weight loss. Other symptoms of cholestasis, such as pruritus, clay-colored stools, malabsorption, and cholangitis, may occur. Although in the United States fever is uncommon in DCC and is seen more commonly in PCC, it is commonly associated with cholangitis, abdominal pain, and jaundice in Thailand. Some patients may present with intermittent jaundice, which is often found in papillary subtypes. The papillary growth obstructs the bile flow and then sheds off portions of the tumor, relieving the cholestatic symptoms. DCC and PCC can usually be distinguished from ICC, which more commonly presents as vague abdominal discomfort and relatively delayed onset of cholestatic symptoms.
A suspicion of CC should prompt regular diagnostic workup including complete blood count, electrolytes, liver function tests, and tumor markers, besides imaging and other invasive diagnostic tests. Common hepatic duct or common bile duct obstruction leads to an increase in direct bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) accompanied by γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), indicating biliary origin. The clinical picture and laboratory workup may mimic choledocholithiasis or benign strictures, but total bilirubin greater than 10 mg/dL and ALP values higher than 5 times normal should raise suspicion for a malignant cause, although these values are not specific enough for diagnosis. Distal tumors are typically in close proximity to major vascular structures and organs, and thereby tend to spread earlier to nearby anatomy. Even benign biliary strictures can simulate the symptoms of malignant obstruction, but appropriate past medical history may help in the diagnosis. However, taking into consideration that 5% to 15% of the biliary strictures are benign and there is no reliable diagnostic modality that can accurately distinguish the benign from the malignant lesion, surgeons need to be cautious under these circumstances.
Differential diagnosis
A wide range of abnormalities can present in a similar way to DCC, making definitive diagnosis challenging. Alternative abnormalities that should be considered include pancreatic head masses (adenocarcinoma, benign or premalignant cysts, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, and so forth), ampullary neoplasms, duodenal tumors, benign biliary stricture, and PSC.
Preoperative evaluation
Ultrasonography (US) alone has limited utility in diagnosing DCC. With a suspicion of biliary dilation and reliable history, US helps exclude gallstones. It may miss small tumors and cannot accurately define tumor extent. US is highly operator-dependent, and along with color Doppler it may help diagnose tumor-induced compression or vascular thrombosis. US may be more helpful for the diagnosis and analysis of ICC and PCC.
Contrast-enhanced high-resolution computed tomography (CT) helps by providing good views of the tumor, dilated ducts, lymphadenopathy, and metastases. Abdominal lymphadenopathy is common in PSC and does not necessarily indicate metastatic disease. Multislice 3-dimensional CT has been found to be superior to conventional CT, US, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the diagnosis of ECC.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an optimal preoperative imaging technique used to determine tumor resectability, invasion into periductal tissues, and nodal and extrahepatic metastases commonly seen in the subperitoneal space of the hepatoduodenal ligament. The tumor is usually visualized as a short stricture or a polypoid mass, which appears hypovascular and has low signal intensity on T1-weighted fat-suppressed MRI. These lesions have low signal intensity relative to adjacent normal pancreatic parenchyma on immediate postgadolinium T1-weighted images, and often show a thin rim of peripheral enhancement on 2-minute postgadolinium fat-suppressed images.
MRI can be coupled with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) as a noninvasive alternative to ERCP or percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTC) to obtain a cholangiogram. MRCP has been shown to have sensitivity of 90% in the evaluation of ECC at the nonicteric stage. ERCP can be used as an initial modality when biliary obstruction exists, owing to both its diagnostic and therapeutic nature ; however, it is useful to perform axial CT or MRI before stenting when possible.
ERCP has the advantage over MRCP as a diagnostic imaging modality for biliary strictures because of its ability to obtain tissue samples and for the therapeutic options it provides, such as stent placement. Supplementing ERCP with intraductal US (IDUS) gives more reliable and precise information about differentiation of malignant versus benign lesions than MRCP without additional imaging sequences. The sensitivity of brush cytology obtained through ERCP in detecting CC varies widely between 23% and 80%, but the specificity remains close to 100%. Use of forceps biopsy or fine-needle aspiration as adjuncts to brush cytology significantly improves the sensitivity of brush cytology.
Endoscopic US provides views of the extrahepatic biliary tract, gallbladder, regional lymph nodes, and mesenteric vasculature. Fine-needle aspiration of distal biliary, pancreatic, and ampullary lesions, along with associated peripancreatic nodes, enhances the sensitivity of DCC detection. Although there may a small risk of tumor seeding with biopsy, the likelihood of this remains unclear.
Positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/CT may have a potential role in preoperative staging but needs to be validated. Maximum standardized uptake values from early and delayed PET/CT may be useful parameters in the differentiation of malignant and benign extrahepatic biliary disease without any added benefit of delayed PET/CT in suspicious cases of ECC.
Transpapillary cholangioscopy (TC) involves passage of a scope (10F diameter) through a therapeutic endoscope channel to obtain direct visualization of the intraductal mucosa. In a prospective multicenter study, TC showed an increased ability to distinguish between benign and malignant strictures when compared with ERCP alone, and facilitated targeted biopsy. TC also carries a higher sensitivity in detecting bile duct carcinoma. PTC involves insertion of a cholangioscope through a percutaneous tract, and is an excellent procedure for obtaining target biopsies. Although this has higher sensitivity and is relatively easier, it requires an invasive technique, in contrast to the transpapillary approach. PTC may be attempted if ERCP is unsuccessful or technically unfeasible.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) detects chromosomal polysomy, improves the diagnostic yield and accuracy of indeterminate biliary strictures, and increases the sensitivity of brush cytology. FISH has been proposed as a routine test in evaluation of indeterminate pancreaticobiliary strictures. Digitized image analysis (DIA) detects the presence of aneuploidy in DNA, and can be used in cases of negative brush cytology and forceps biopsy to improve their sensitivity. However, DIA has not been found to be an independent predictor of malignancy. A DNA-methylation assay consisting of a 5-gene panel may be useful in detecting ECC and may help in increasing the sensitivity of preoperative diagnosis.
IDUS involves introduction of a high-frequency miniprobe over a guide wire into the biliary system. It can be used to assess vascular invasion, especially in the right hepatic artery and portal vein, as well as depth of invasion and the longitudinal extension patterns of cancer along the bile duct. IDUS may be used to identify tumor invasion within the hepatoduodenal ligament, but assessment of nodal metastases can be challenging with this modality. IDUS in combination with endoscopic transpapillary biopsy may improve tumor diagnosis in the case of ampullary lesions.
Low-coherence enhanced back-scattering spectroscopy (LEBS) uses infrared light to produce cross-sectional images. This novel light-scattering technology takes the advantage of the field effect of carcinogenesis to detect various cancers of the lung, esophagus, colon, pancreas, and biliary tract. LEBS is a promising modality, as it is less invasive and potentially a more sensitive diagnostic tool for diagnosis. The application of LEBS in biliary tumors is being evaluated in the periampullary duodenum for signals suggestive of malignancy.
Tumor Markers
Carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 is the most commonly used tumor marker for biliary cancers, with sensitivity of 53% to 92%, specificity of 45% to 80%, and positive predictive value of 16% to 40% depending on the cutoff values for malignant biliary obstruction. C-reactive protein has been proposed as a useful correction factor to improve the diagnostic value of CA19-9 in patients with malignant biliary obstruction. In patients with PSC, CA19-9 has limited value in detecting CC because of its low specificity. However, CA19-9 as an adjunct to cross-sectional imaging has showed sensitivity of 91% to 100% in detecting CC in patients with PSC. The usual cutoff value for diagnosing CC is 100 U/mL, which is lowered in patients with PSC.
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has diagnostic yield inferior to that of CA19-9 in detecting CC, with sensitivity of 38% to 53% and sensitivity of 86% to 100%. An index score of 400U using the formula CA19-9 + (CEA × 40) had an accuracy of 86% in diagnosing CC in PSC. CA19-9 and CEA in conjunction with brush cytology and DNA analysis has sensitivity and specificity of 88% and 80%, respectively, and in PSC patients with CC 100% and 85%, respectively. Though not useful for screening, as diagnostic markers CA19-9 and CEA, as with most tumor markers, can be monitored in patients following surgical resection to detect recurrence or metastasis.
Immunoglobulin G fraction 4 (IgG4) can be measured in PSC patients or if a benign cause of biliary stricture is suspected. IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis is a characteristic type of cholangitis of unknown etiology that is associated with high serum IgG4 levels and dense infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells with extensive fibrosis of the bile duct wall. It is often associated with autoimmune pancreatitis, and responds to steroid therapy. IgG4 commonly presents as obstructive jaundice and mimics malignant biliary obstruction. Serum IgG4 levels greater than 135 mg/dL are considered diagnostic of IgG4-scleroscing cholangitis. Combined with imaging showing narrowing and thickening of bile ducts with coexistence of autoimmune pancreatitis, characteristic histologic examination or response to steroid therapy should clinch the diagnosis of IgG4-sclerosing cholangitis. It is important to exclude other causes such as CC, PSC, pancreatic cancer, and secondary sclerosing cholangitis.
Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT-1) is another molecular marker expressed highly in biliary tract malignancies. hENT-1 may be associated with improved survival, and may be useful as a prognostic marker to help guide chemotherapy regimens.
HER-3, a protein from the tyrosine kinase receptor family, is overexpressed in ECC, especially in nodular and infiltrative subtypes, and the overexpression is correlated with decreased survival. This target could be a potential candidate for molecular therapy.
Preoperative stent
The precise advantage of preoperative biliary drainage is controversial. In patients with symptomatic malignant obstruction, biliary drainage improves symptoms of jaundice, pruritus, loss of appetite, and nausea. If patients are scheduled to undergo chemotherapy, biliary drainage is essential to reduce hepatotoxic damage from chemotherapeutic agents; however, if the patient is asymptomatic and surgical resection is anticipated within 1 to 2 weeks, drainage is usually not advised. Avoiding preoperative biliary drainage for these patients may lower rates of complications such as cholangitis, pancreatitis, and perforation, which may delay surgery. Absence of preoperative biliary drainage may result in an increase in rates of postoperative fistula, as anastomotic leaks may be more prevalent. If the surgery is to be undertaken more than 3 weeks or later, or if the disease is unresectable and the patient is symptomatic, preoperative biliary drainage should be considered.
Staging
Staging of DCC according to the current AJCC-7 guidelines is presented in Table 2 .
| Primary Tumor (T) | |||
| Tx | Primary tumor cannot be assessed | ||
| T0 | No evidence of primary tumor | ||
| Tis | Carcinoma in situ | ||
| T1 | Tumor confined to bile duct histologically | ||
| T2 | Tumor invades beyond the wall of bile duct | ||
| T3 | Tumor invades the gallbladder, pancreas, duodenum, or other adjacent organs without involvement of celiac axis or superior mesenteric artery (SMA) | ||
| T4 | Tumor invades celiac axis or SMA | ||
| Regional Lymph Nodes (N) | |||
| Nx | Regional lymph nodes cannot be assessed | ||
| N0 | No regional lymph node metastasis | ||
| N1 | Regional lymph node metastasis | ||
| Distant Metastasis (M) | |||
| M0 | No distant metastasis | ||
| M1 | Distant metastasis | ||
| Anatomic Stage | |||
| Stage 0 | Tis | N0 | M0 |
| Stage IA | T1 | N0 | M0 |
| Stage IB | T2 | N0 | M0 |
| Stage IIA | T3 | N0 | M0 |
| Stage IIB | T1 | N1 | M0 |
| T2 | N1 | M0 | |
| T3 | N1 | M0 | |
| Stage III | T4 | Any N | M0 |
| Stage IV | Any T | Any N | Any M |
Criteria for unresectability
The criteria for unresectability in patients with DCC include medically unfit patients; those with distant metastases (liver + other organs); those with distant lymph node metastases (beyond portal, hepatic, peripancreatic; ie, celiac and superior mesenteric nodes); and those with major vascular involvement (major portal vein or superior mesenteric vein involvement, superior mesenteric artery or celiac axis involvement).
Surgical management
Surgical resection is the main treatment option for resectable DCC, which is typically addressed via PD, similarly to carcinoma of the pancreatic head, ampulla of Vater, or second portion of the duodenum. A subset of small tumors (2%–8%), in the mid-portion of the CBD may be tackled with bile duct resection (BDR) followed by biliary reconstruction, usually with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Portal and retropancreatic node dissection helps to enhance pathologic staging. A series from Memorial Sloan-Kettering has shown that for optimal nodal assessment, a total lymph node count 11 lymph nodes is recommended to prevent understaging of DCC.
Perioperative Outcomes
A recent large published series focusing on surgical outcomes of CC from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database included 243 patients who underwent pancreatectomy for DCC from 2005 to 2009 across several institutes in United States. The postoperative morbidity rate was reported to be 47.1% with an observed to expected (O/E) morbidity index of 1.1. The most frequent complications were sepsis (16%), followed by surgical-site infection (9.1%) and pneumonia (3.3%). Risk factors found to be significantly associated with postoperative morbidity in DCC were transfusion of more than 7 units of packed red blood cells, underweight body habitus (body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m 2 ), longer operative time (>5 hours), preoperative hyperbilirubinemia greater than 3 mg/dL, and history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with dyspnea. The postoperative mortality was reported to be only 1.2% with an O/E mortality ratio of 0.4.
Another large series from The Johns Hopkins Hospital included 239 patients spanning 3 decades from 1973 to 2004 diagnosed with DCC, 96% of whom underwent resection via PD or BDR and lymphadenectomy. The perioperative mortality was the least in DCC patients (3%) in comparison with ICC and PCC patients. The most common postoperative complications were pancreatic leak (13%), wound infection (11%), and delayed gastric emptying (10%). The median overall survival was 18 months. Compared with resected ICC and PCC, resected DCC had intermediate 5-year survival of 23%, versus 40% in ICC and 10% in PCC. Margin status, nodal status, tumor size, and tumor differentiation were independently associated with survival. This report was an updated series showing similar results for patients with resected DCC from the same institution.
Role of Hepatopancreaticoduodenectomy
A major hepatectomy along with PD in the presence of a positive proximal bile duct margin extending to only one hemi-liver is called hepatopancreaticoduodenectomy. This aggressive procedure increases the rate of R0 resection, which is one of the most important prognostic factors. Taking into account the high rates of morbidity and mortality associated with this procedure, its role is controversial. It should be reserved for fit patients with no evidence of regional disease, in centers with adequate expertise and acceptable mortality rates only for achieving R0 resection.
Role of Portal Vein Resection
Surgery with intent of complete resection is the only potentially curative treatment for CC. Vascular involvement is associated with decreased survival. Hence, resection of the portal vein and/or superior mesenteric vein is recommended for complete tumor extirpation, when feasible and necessary. This scenario is more commonly observed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma than with DCC.
Role of Diagnostic Laparoscopy
A smaller series by Vollmer and colleagues studied the role of staging laparoscopy (SL) and laparoscopic ultrasonography (LUS) in different subsets of periampullary and gallbladder cancer. In cases of ECC, SL and LUS were found to increase the rate of resection, but no definitive utility could be established. It has been recommended, as a current standard of management, that SL and LUS should be performed before resection in higher-risk individuals (poor performance status or suggestion of peritoneal or hepatic metastases) to prevent unnecessary laparotomy in up to 30% patients with CC.
Surgical Resection in Recurrent CC
A large Korean series demonstrated that surgical resection of metastases in patients with CC prolonged survival, and adjuvant therapy coupled with surgical resection in patients with recurrence did not impart any survival advantage. The survival of patients with recurrence who did not undergo resection was not affected by adjuvant therapy. Of the 474 patients with ECC 35% developed recurrent disease, of whom 8% underwent metastasectomy. Current data validating the role of metastasectomy for recurrent CC are insufficient, but surgical resection may be considered based on the individual patient profile. The main indicator of benefit for this approach is a prolonged disease-free interval from the time of the original resection to that of the recurrence (at least a year, perhaps longer). The recurrence must be amenable to margin-negative resection without excessively high risk to the patient for this approach to be considered appropriate.
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