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Bile Duct Cancer Symptoms

Bile duct cancer is rare and there are no screening tests to detect the disease. That’s why it’s important to understand bile duct cancer symptoms.

Detecting Bile Duct Cancer

Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) is relatively rare, affecting about 10,000 people in the U.S. each year. Given the location of the bile ducts deep within the abdomen, there are currently no bile duct cancer screening tests available to check for the disease before symptoms appear.

That’s why it’s important to familiarize yourself with bile duct cancer symptoms, and to alert your doctor right away if you experience them. Patients with a diagnosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis should remain in surveillance with their hepatologist to screen for the development of bile duct cancer.

Symptoms of Bile Duct Cancer

Bile ducts are tiny tubes that carry bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. Given their location deep inside the abdomen, bile duct tumors are difficult to detect at early stages before symptoms are present. Some cholangiocarcinomas are diagnosed incidentally, meaning as a result of imaging tests for another condition. Others are diagnosed when a person experiences symptoms of bile duct cancer and goes to the doctor for evaluation. Bile duct tumors located within the liver (intrahepatic) are more likely to be diagnosed incidentally since these tumors rarely cause symptoms until they grow very large.

Bile duct cancer symptoms can vary depending on type and location of the tumor. The first sign of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (cancer that grows on the bile ducts outside the liver) is almost always jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Other symptoms of bile duct cancer include:

  • Itchy skin
  • Loss of appetite
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Fever
  • Abdominal pain

Most people who experience these symptoms do not have cancer. Even jaundice usually does not signal cancer and is more often caused by gallstones and other non-life-threatening conditions. Still, it’s important to seek a diagnosis right away. The sooner bile duct cancer is diagnosed, the better your prognosis may be.