Abstract
BackgroundCholangiocarcinoma, including intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, is a rare but highly lethal cancer. Despite effort in finding the risk factors of cholangiocarcinoma, the causes of most cholangiocarcinoma remain unknown. This study utilized a population-based case-control design using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan to assess the medical conditions associated with cholangiocarcinoma.Methods5,157 incident cases of cholangiocarcinoma diagnosed during 2004 to 2008 and 20,628 controls matched to the cases on sex, age, and time of diagnosis (reference date for the controls) were identified from the NHIRD. Medical risk factors were ascertained from the NHIRD for each individual. Conditional logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between cholangiocarcinoma and each medical risk factor.ResultsThe results showed that factors associated with an increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma included cholangitis, cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, cirrhosis of liver, alcoholic liver disease, chronic non-alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and peptic ulcer. In addition, sex and age differences were observed.ConclusionsThis study confirms the association between cholangiocarcinoma and several less established risk factors, including diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and peptic ulcer (proxy for the presence of Helicobacter Pylori). Future studies should focus on finding additional environmental and genetic causes of cholangiocarcinoma.
Highlights
Cholangiocarcinoma, including intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC and ECC), is rare but highly lethal
Biliary Tract Diseases Choledochal cysts (ICC: OR = 20.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.4–91.3; ECC: OR = 20.0, 95% CI: 2.3–171.2), cholangitis (ICC: OR = 27.8, 95% CI: 20.2–38.4; ECC: OR = 12.6, 95% CI: 9.4–16.9), cholelithiasis, and cholecystitis (ICC: OR = 6.3, 95% CI: 4.9–8.1; ECC: OR = 4.7, 95% CI: 3.5–6.3) were all significantly (p,0.05) associated with an increased risk of cholangiocarcinoma (Table 2)
Peptic ulcer was more strongly associated with an increased risk of ICC among females (OR = 3.1, 95% CI: 2.7–3.5) than among males (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 2.2–2.7)
Summary
Cholangiocarcinoma, including intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC and ECC), is rare but highly lethal. Other risk factors have emerged, including viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and hepatitis C), diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease [1,2,3], but their roles in the pathogenesis of cholangiocarcinoma need to be confirmed, preferably in population-based studies with a large sample size. The goals of this study are: 1) to examine whether the established risk factors of cholangiocarcinoma are significant for the occurrence of cholangiocarcinoma in Taiwan with a population-based and record-based case-control study using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Cholangiocarcinoma, including intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, is a rare but highly lethal cancer. This study utilized a population-based case-control design using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan to assess the medical conditions associated with cholangiocarcinoma
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
