Newly Diagnosed Klatskin Tumor

Hi, Everyone,

My mother has just been diagnosed with Klatskin Tumor. She presented with the usual symptoms of dark urine, clay colored stools. itching and jaundice. She is in a small hospital in Florida and we are hoping to transfer her to the cancer center @  University of Michigan. Have any of you out there been to that facility? Their credentials seem excellent but some input from anyone who has been treated there would be helpful. If anyone would like to respond just to talk or give encouragement I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you,  Melody

My husband was diagnosed in March.  We did radiation for three weeks twice a day and are now on our fifth round of chemo in pill form.  We are waiting to be placed on a liver transplant list.  The tumor was the size of a nickel and was blocking both ducts.  We are in Texas they have a protocol here that started at the Mayo clinic.  It is all in how big is the tumor???I have not heard about Michigan's but I have researched a lot on this subject. Let me know if I can help at all. 

Thank you for replying. We are off to MI today for an appt. but are seeing Dr. Jerome Canady in Pittsburgh on Wed. Did you read the site "my wife was cured of liver cancer?" Dr. Canady cured her and I have spoken to him twice and he has seen my mom's films and has a plan for her. He is certainly a remarkable man. Look him up online and read about him. I will be in touch again after our appts.

Hello Melody...I'm sorry to hear about your mother and the diagnosed Klatskin Tumor.  It sounds like you have confidence with Dr Canady...that's very important. If they do anything, make sure they do surgery...it is my understanding, Chemo and Radiation is not the solution to treat a Klatskin Tumor, surgery is most important.  And by the way, size is important, Staging is a term used to determine the size and whether it has spread beyond its original site.  Make sure you ask your doctor what stage the tumor is in, hopefully the staging number given to you will be 1A, 1B, 2B.  If by chance your mother is in Stage 2B and your doctor does surgery along with the Roux-en-Y loop Procedure you can expect some recovery difficulties as well as a possible recurrent issue.  My wife went through all of this at UCSF Medical Center in 2003, doing pretty well at this time.  She did have a recurrent in one lymph node and it was handled ASAP by planting a gold seed in the cancered lymph node.  Went through oral chemo and 3D/Comformal Radiation anlong with 5 treatment of Cyberkinfe Radiation Treatments.  She has had 2 PET/CTscan at UCSF and the cancer is gone.  Good luck and I hope the best for your as the caregiver and your mom.  Leonard 

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Hi Leonard,

Thank you so much for the info. We saw a doc @ the Univ. of Michigan Cancer Center yesterday and he said more testing needs to be done before he decides if surgery is an option. We are seeing Dr. Canady in Pitt on Wed. and he is planning on surgery. My mom is scheduled to have another mrcp and cat scan on Thurs. in Pitt and a portal vein embolization on Fri. with surgery to follow in 3 weeks. The PVE is to hypertrophy the side of the liver that will remain. Did your wife have this procedure? I feel  Dr. Canady is passionate about his work having called me twice already about my mommy. He says" I can help your mom" where all the other Docs have been more reserved and sceptical. We shall meet him Wed. so will e-mail you again after that appt. I am writing down the stages you told me as I hadn't had that info until now. Thank you again, Leonard, for all the info. Please keep in touch.

Melody

Melody...The reason I say surgery is necessary is because a Klatskin Tumor is located in the hepatic biliary system (at the Y). The Bile Duct Y is the junction to the common bile duct...Chemo and Radiation is not the answer.  I hope your doctors testing results will lead them to surgery, give them space, but not too much, they only want make sure their dedsion is correct.  As I understand it...there's not that much testing needed to determine the present of a Klatskin Tumor.  It sounds like Doctor Canady is moving in the right direction...and yes I understand when you say the other doctors are reserved and sceptical...in fact that's a very polite way of saying it.  My wife's doctors ( Doctor Ryo Hirose and Doctor Jerry Norton) at UCSF Medical Center accepted the challenge, their counter parts questioned them, like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS...their next comment was, "you may lose this person on the operating table". That didn't stop them, my wife was at the time was 53 years old and in darn good health. Both doctors visited her room the night before the surgery and told her they will be very agressive with this surgery, if she needed a new blood supply they would pull a vien from her neck or leg and replace it. When sugery was done they discovered the tumor wrapped itself around the hepatic artery and they needed to remove it...she has the portal vein, thank God, but that does limit the blood flow to the liver.  I apologize for rambling, I've been living this since 2003 and know more than I really want to know about the subject.  Please do not hesitate to ask me anything about the subject.  By the way, I don't remember if I mentioned the cancer surfaced again after 3 years in one lymph node.  The fact is, it didn't come back,...it was always there but in a microscope size that was not seen by the CTscan. During surgery, my wife's doctors removed two lymph nodes...the third lymph node looked okay but as we know today there was a cancer cell so small the it wasn't detected.  This cancer is a very slow growth problem with little symptoms until it's almost too late...thats the major problem.  The third lymph node problem showed up as a 3.5cm mass.  The doctors ordered a PET/CTscan, (Cancer can not hide from a PET scan) and found only one lymph node infected. Becuse my wife could not have additional surgery in that area (doctors know the reason) they order Oral Chemo Therapy and 3D/Conformal Radiation with a CyberKnife Radiation Boost....that saved my wifes life.  Melody, again I'm sorry for rambling...there is so much information to pass on, I just get carrier away.  You take care...remember what I told you before...your mom needs you...sleep, eat, and take care of yourself...don't let this burn you out...that will not do you or your mom any good...and believe me I know...it will get harder before it gets better...hang in there. Leonard, Alamo, California