The chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil is often given at the same time as the radiation in an effort to improve the effectiveness of treatment. This combination therapy is felt to be better than other treatments.
Five-Year Survival Up to 25 percent
Investigational Various combinations of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy may be considered. But because this is such a rare disease, it is difficult to study the relative benefits of newer treatments.
Unresectable
The tumor cannot be removed because it has spread to local lymph nodes , liver tissue or elsewhere in the body.
Standard Treatment There is no standard treatment, so chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy clinical trials should be considered.
Significant relief of symptoms may be achieved. Patients with symptoms such as itching or infection may benefit from a procedure to create a bypass system for the bile. Such a bypass tube (stem) can be placed through the skin during percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography or through a scope during ERCP.
With the ERCP stent placement, the tube may drain into the intestines and a collecting bag may not be needed. Occasionally, neither of these methods drains the bile successfully. In that case, surgery designed to create a bypass channel may be done.
