title: [Cancer of the extrahepatic bile ducts. Clinical experience and anatomic/surgical considerations].
abstract: Cancer of the extrahepatic biliary tract is a rare disease related to a severe prognosis. The resection of the extrahepatic biliary tract is a complex procedure and the preoperative assessment of resectability is made difficult because of the malignancies. Biliary cancer resection can be curative in some patients but in some cases a liver resection has also to be performed. The authors retrospectively analyzed their recent cases closely examining some anatomical and technical aspects of biliary cancer resection. Eight patients were treated, three had distal cancer, two a central and three a proximal one (Klatskin tumor). In seven patients (87%) the cancer had spread to the liver. In one patient there was a favourable anatomical variation. All eight patients underwent laparotomy and in two (25%) the biliary cancer could be resected but curatively only in one case. Six patients underwent palliative procedures with a maximal survival of 8 months. The only curatively resected patient is well, without recurrence, 13 months after surgery. These results are similar to those reported concerning resectability and survival but a higher rate of liver metastases strongly reduced the amount of possibly curative resections. The experience shows the importance of laparotomy and of the knowledge of anatomy for a correct approach to resection and palliation of this cancer.
authors.affiliation: Policlinico- Istituto di I Clinica Chirurgica, Università degli Studi, Catania.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Greca
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puleo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li Destri
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Di Carlo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lombardo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodolico
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cataldo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Licata
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D017734:Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
vernacular_title: Il cancro delle vie biliari extraepatiche. Esperienza clinica e considerazioni anatomo-chirurgiche.