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Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
The etiological factors of cholangiocarcinoma include clonorhoz, primary sclerosing cholangitis, polycystosis, anabolic steroids and the administration of thorotrast.
The tumor is dense, whitish in color. It has a glandular structure and comes from the epithelium of the intrahepatic bile ducts. Tumor cells resemble the epithelium of the bile duct; sometimes they form papillary structures. Biliary secretion is absent. Unlike hepatocellular carcinoma, almost no capillaries are formed. Histologically, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma can not be distinguished from adenocarcinoma metastases.
Keratin serves as a marker of the biliary epithelium and is found in 90% of cases of cholangiocarcinoma.
The tumor is more common in the elderly. In a clinical picture, which resembles that of other malignant tumors of the liver, jaundice dominates. Increase in the level of a-fetoprotein in the serum is not observed.
CT reveals a volume formation with a low absorption coefficient, sometimes with calcification foci. The tumor is usually weakly vascularized. On angiograms and magnetic resonance tomograms there is a dense "wrapping" of the tumor with blood vessels.
The results of treatment are unsatisfactory. The tumor does not respond to chemotherapy.
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