Colangiocarcinoma

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a heterogeneous group of malignant neoplasms that originate in the biliary tract. There are numerous risk factors for its onset, such as diseases that progress with chronic inflammation of the bile duct, cirrhosis, consumption of toxic substances, or metabolic syndrome. CCA usually progresses silently until advanced stages, which leads to a diagnostic delay that negatively impacts patients’ prognosis. In order to diagnose it, there are non-specific serological markers and various imaging tests, but a definitive diagnosis is made through a biopsy. The only curative treatment for CCA is complete surgical resection with adjuvant chemotherapy, although less than half of CCAs are resectable at the time of diagnosis and the risk of recurrence after surgery is high. The approach to advanced stages of the disease involves systemic treatment with conventional chemotherapeutic agents, with poor outcomes in terms of survival. There are currently numerous immunotherapy and targeted therapy alternatives, depending on the mutational profile of each tumor, that are used as second line therapy and are increasingly being developed.