Emerging Treatment Strategies for Advanced Cholangiocarcinoma 

This in-depth discussion, presented by Lipika Goyle, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, will feature expert insights on emerging therapeutic treatments, recent discoveries on novel therapies, managing strategies for monitoring and managing adverse events, and much more! Start the activity now!

STATEMENT OF NEED

Cholangiocarcinoma, also known as bile duct cancer, is a rare malignancy originating in the epithelium of the bile duct. Accounting for only 3% of gastrointestinal tumors, it is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis (Patel & Benipal, 2019). Early detection is difficult because nearly two-thirds of cases are clinically silent and most patients present with advanced disease (ACS, 2020). Cholangiocarcinoma is typically classified as intrahepatic or extrahepatic based on whether it originates in the bile ducts inside or outside of the liver (NCCN, 2019). While complete resection is the only potentially curative treatment for both intrahepatic and extrahepatic disease, many patients are ineligible for surgery due to advanced disease, the presence of involved lymph nodes, or perineural invasion. With a dearth of effective treatment options, localized intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) has a 5-year survival rate of 24%, declining to 7% for regional disease and 2% for distant disease (ACS, 2020). For extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC), the 5-year survival rates for localized, regional, and distant disease are only 15%, 16%, and 2%, respectively (ACS, 2020).