Risk factors for hilar cholangiocarcinoma: a case-control study in China.

AIM: To study the association between hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) and pre-existing medical conditions.

METHODS

Three hundred and thirteen HC patients admitted to the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital (Shanghai, China) in 2000-2005 and 608 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Association between HC and pre-existing medical conditions was studied with their adjusted odds ratio (OR) calculated by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of choledocholithiasis (adjusted OR = 2.704, P = 0.039), hepatolithiasis (adjusted OR = 3.278, P = 0.018), cholecystolithiasis (adjusted OR = 4.499, P < 0.0001), cholecystectomy (adjusted OR = 7.012, P = 0.004), biliary ascariasis (adjusted OR = 7.188, P = 0.001), liver fluke (adjusted OR = 10.088, P = 0.042) and liver schistosomiasis (adjusted OR = 9.913, P = 0.001) was higher in HC patients than in healthy controls.

CONCLUSION

Biliary tract stone disease (choledocholithiasis, hepatolithiasis, cholecystolithiasis) and parasitic liver disease (biliary ascariasis, liver fluke, liver schistosomiasis) are the risk factors for HC in Chinese population.