Operations for extrahepatic bile duct cancers: are the results really improving?

OBJECTIVE

To find out if our results for the treatment of extrahepatic bile duct cancer have improved we reviewed our latest patients as a comparison to a previously reported series from this department.

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

Tertiary referral centre, Sweden.

SUBJECTS: 102 patients who presented with extrahepatic bile duct cancer 1979-1995.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Morbidity, mortality, and short and long term survival.

RESULTS

16 patients had various types of resection, which were radical in 14 according to the surgeon and in 10 according to the pathologist. One patient (6%) died in hospital, and 1 (44%) developed complications. 13 patients had other operations that did not involve resection, 23 had laparotomy alone, 61 had biliary drainage either by percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC) or endoscopy, and 10 had no active treatment. One patient of the 16 (6%) who had resections has survived for more than five years and another one is still alive after 40 months.

CONCLUSION

Long term survival has not improved for patients with extrahepatic bile duct cancer in our hospital during the last decades.