Cholangiocellular carcinoma in a patient who has survived for 6 years after extended left hepatic lobectomy and caudate lobe resection with pancreatoduodenectomy

Abstract

We describe a case of cholangiocellular carcinoma in a 66-year-old woman. A well-defined, hypoechoic tumor, 9 cm in greatest diameter, was detected in the left lobe of the liver by ultrasonography in December 1988. Celiac angiography showed a faintly stained tumor at the same location, with interruption of the left portal vein. Computed tomography revealed invasion of the inferior vena cava and lymph node enlargement around the head of the pancreas. In January 1989, the patient underwent extended left hepatic lobectomy with caudate lobe resection, pancreatoduodenectomy, partial resection of the inferior vena cava, and lymph node dissection around the hepatoduodenal ligament and the common hepatic artery. Postoperative histopathological examination revealed a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. Cancer cells had invaded only the portal region, unlike the features of most cholangiocellular carcinomas. There was no evidence of lymph node metastasis in the dissected specimens. Six years after operation, there have been no signs of recurrence, and the patient is still alive and well.