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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Bile Duct Cancer

My 85 year old mother has bile duct cancer, gall bladder has been removed after an emergency surgery for duo. intestine rupture on 11/12/15. She s now had a stent placed (although only could get a small one in)...Itching seems to be getting a little worse and jaundice is improved (after stent) but still there. What kind of time do you think she has...at first I was told 1 - 2 months...then same dr. told her maybe 6 months? What is the normal expected progression for someone in this shape/situation? What can we expect? Trying to decide where/how to handle care from a financial and physical standpoint.. Thank you.
Thu, 12 Mar 2015
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Radiologist,  's  Response
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.

Cancer is a difficult condition to treat but one should fight it till the end. Bile duct cancers are very aggressive and can quickly spread over the involved area. The bile duct conveys the bile generated in the liver to the small intestine through the bile duct. This bile secreted in to the intestine helps in digestion of food.

The cancer in bile duct might have caused obstruction to flow of bile and therefore there was jaundice. It is important to know if the entire affected area was removed by surgery and confirmed to be cancer.

The stent in place is allowing the bile to pass through without any obstruction and this is reducing the jaundice. If she has not developed cancer any where else in the body then she can continue having the stent in place. Most likely every gall bladder and bile duct cancer might spread to the liver and that is seen on ultrasound scan or CT scan. Once this is done then the survival of a patient is around 6 months to 18 months. If there is no spread to the liver than a patient with a bile duct cancer which has been operated can survive for 2 years.
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Suggest Treatment For Bile Duct Cancer

Hi, Thanks for writing in. Cancer is a difficult condition to treat but one should fight it till the end. Bile duct cancers are very aggressive and can quickly spread over the involved area. The bile duct conveys the bile generated in the liver to the small intestine through the bile duct. This bile secreted in to the intestine helps in digestion of food. The cancer in bile duct might have caused obstruction to flow of bile and therefore there was jaundice. It is important to know if the entire affected area was removed by surgery and confirmed to be cancer. The stent in place is allowing the bile to pass through without any obstruction and this is reducing the jaundice. If she has not developed cancer any where else in the body then she can continue having the stent in place. Most likely every gall bladder and bile duct cancer might spread to the liver and that is seen on ultrasound scan or CT scan. Once this is done then the survival of a patient is around 6 months to 18 months. If there is no spread to the liver than a patient with a bile duct cancer which has been operated can survive for 2 years.