cholangiocarcinoma

Your liver makes a digestive juice called bile. Your gallbladder stores it between meals. When you eat, your gallbladder pushes the bile into tubes called bile ducts. They carry the bile to your small intestine. The bile helps break down fat. It also helps the liver get rid of toxins and wastes.

Bile duct cancer is rare. It can happen in the parts of the bile ducts that are outside or inside the liver. Cancer of the bile duct outside of the liver is much more common. Risk factors include having inflammation of the bile duct, ulcerative colitis, and some liver diseases.

Symptoms can include:

• Jaundice
• Itchy skin
• Fever
• Abdominal pain

Tests to diagnose bile duct cancer may include a physical exam, imaging tests of the liver and bile ducts, blood tests, and a biopsy.

Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons. Primary liver cancer starts in the liver. Metastatic liver cancer starts somewhere else and spreads to your liver.

Risk factors for primary liver cancer include :

• Having hepatitis B or C
• Heavy alcohol use
• Having cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver
• Having hemochromatosis, an iron storage disease
• Obesity and diabetes

Symptoms can include a lump or pain on the right side of your abdomen and yellowing of the skin. However, you may not have symptoms until the cancer is advanced. This makes it harder to treat. Doctors use tests that examine the liver and the blood to diagnose liver cancer. Treatment options include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or liver transplantation.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Your liver makes a digestive juice called bile. Your gallbladder stores it between meals. When you eat, your gallbladder pushes the bile into tubes called bile ducts. They carry the bile to your small intestine. The bile helps break down fat. It also helps the liver get rid of toxins and wastes.

Different diseases can block the bile ducts and cause a problem with the flow of bile:

• Gallstones, which can increase pressure in the gallbladder and cause a gallbladder attack. The pain usually lasts from one to several hours.
• Cancer
• Infections
• Birth defects, such as biliary atresia. It is the most common reason for liver transplants in children in the United States.
• Inflammation, which can cause scarring. Over time, this can lead to liver failure.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Your gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ under your liver. It stores bile, a fluid made by your liver to digest fat. As your stomach and intestines digest food, your gallbladder releases bile through a tube called the common bile duct. The duct connects your gallbladder and liver to your small intestine.

Cancer of the gallbladder is rare. It is more common in women and Native Americans. Symptoms include

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)
• Pain above the stomach
• Fever
• Nausea and vomiting
• Bloating
• Lumps in the abdomen

It is hard to diagnose gallbladder cancer in its early stages. Sometimes doctors find it when they remove the gallbladder for another reason. But people with gallstones rarely have gallbladder cancer. Because it is often found late, it can be hard to treat gallbladder cancer. Treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination.

NIH: National Cancer Institute