The First Stage Of Bile Duct Cancer

My 67 year old mother has been recently diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct. She was told that the cancer is contained in the common hepatic duct at the bottom near the pancreas, but it has not spread beyond that duct. Everything that I have read indicated that all or some of the organs below are effected as well ---liver, pancreas, stomach, gall bladder, etc. The doctor feels that surgery is an option for her --- resected and reconstructed with a loop of the small bowel. We are headed to see a doctor in Winston-Salem, NC that will possibly do the surgery. Can anyone give me some insight of what we are about to face?

Hi Tamm
Just read your message, I was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in Dec. 2004. Had a total resection done and half of the liver removed. All the margins came back clear and so did the lymph nodes. I have to have another ct scan done the end of June, I was given a 50/50 chance. It was called a Klatskin tumor which is very rare, I pray everday that it doesnt come back, once I get 6 months to a year in I will feel more positive. The only side effects I am having right now is fevers, I am going for more tests but my family doctor thinks its an infection underneath the infection, I had problems with that ever since the operation, now that the incision is healed up there might be a pocket of infection somewhere. I hope your mother does okay, it will take quite a while to get over this kind of operation. Let me know how you make out.

Thank you for responding so quickly. I will let you know what the surgeon sugguest and outcome. By the way, if I am not getting too personal, how old are you? I just want to see if your in the same age bracket as my mother.

Hi Tamm
In answer to your question I am 56, actually I will be 57 in May. If you have anymore questions please dont hestitate to ask. I am trying to find out more about this type of cancer so keep in touch.

Jacqueline,
My husband (40) also had a Klatskin's tumor. He had surgery in October 2004. The surgery went well but unfortunately they didn't get clear margins. He had a combination of chemo and radiation in January hoping to get the margins but it didn't work. A new tumor started growing by February. He just started a new round of chemo in March. What I thought was intersting with your case is that my husband also has an underlying infection that they can't find (presumably from the surgery). Every time they took him off of the antibiotics he would get a fever and end up admitted to the hospital. Because they are trying to fight the tumor they have pretty much given up trying to find the infection for now. He is just going to stay on Cipro indefinitely. I'm sure at some point they will revisit it but I don't know when. He had a white blood cell tagging test to try to find the source of the infection but it was inconclusive. Have your doctors talked about doing radiation or chemo as adjuvunct therapy (therapy to get what cancer cells might be left behind)? I've heard of them doing it in several cases including my husband's. I wouldn't wish the radiation or chemo on anyone but it might be worth discussing with your doctors. Good luck with your fight - I hope you continue to have no recurrence. It is great to hear some good news about this cancer.
Susan

Hi Susan:
Sorry to hear about your husband, I sure know what he is going thru. I did get a second opinion from another specialist, he also told me the radiation or chemo would not affect this type of cancer, its so rare they don't know why radiation or chemo doesn't work, its very scary.
I finally had to go to my family dr. had more blood work done and urine culture, the urine culture came back that I had an infection in the urinary tract, I had no sign of infection there which they cannot figure out. He is sending me for another ct scan and bone scan. How is your husband feeling otherwise, I am so tired all the time, I know it will take time to get over this operation but I feel i should be feeling better by now. Exactly what did they do to your husband as far as surgery, did they do a resection on the bile duct. Tell your husband good luck.

Hi Jackeline,
My husband definitely has ups and downs as far as how he is feeling. He had the surgery in October and was in the hospital for almost two months total partly because of the infection and a problem with his lungs. He got out of the hospital in mid-November. He was really worn out for the first month at least. Just a walk down the block was rough at first but he continued to walk and get stronger. He lost a lot of muscle mass so I'm sure that didn't help. By the beginning of January he felt better but was still tired. He started chemo and radiation at the beginning of Jan so that pretty much wiped him out again. He rebounded again after that to the point where some days we can walk more than 3 miles. With this new round of chemo he has some bad days again but when he has a good day he tries to be active and walk. Good luck to you. I'm sure your energy will get better. My husband's surgery sounds identical to yours and it was 21 hours long. It was a major surgery so I think it just takes a while to feel better.

After our visit to the surgeon, he confirmed it is not Klatskin. Her cancer is contained in the common bile duct which is in the lower part of the bile duct near the Pancreas - Distal Bile Duct Tumors.
They will perform the Whipple Operation.

Hello,

My mother had surgery about 6 weeks ago and had her bile duct and gallbladder removed. She had a tumor and it was contained in the bile duct and had not spread. They did numerous tests on her - CT scans, Chest exrays 2 ERCPS and could not see anything but know there was a blockage as she was sick and not being able to eat certain foods.

She had the whipple procedure performed and the only 2 things that were removed were her bile duct and gallbladder.
They did not know it was a tumor until they did the surgery.

They make it sound like her prognosis is good as it had not spread.

She will be starting combo chemo and radiation in the next couple of weeks for 4-5 weeks and then take a month off - then have chemo for 3 months.
They say it is treatable as it has not spread.

What was there prognosis for your mother after the whipple procedure?

Thanks
Jennifer

Tammym,

Good luck to your Mom. You're Mother's diagnosis sounds similar to what I was told when I was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. I am 65 yrs. old. I had the Whipple Procedure on January 19th, 2005. Procedure involved pancreas, liver, stomach, removal of gall bladder. The way it was explained by the surgeon, it was a reconstruction of the digestive system. Pathology report was good. Cancer was confined to the duct. 12 lymphs removed-all clear. Surgeon recommended radiation & chemo (to enhance the site for radiation) as follow-up to clean up the area for any leftover abnormal cells. I completed six weeks of radiation & chemo on May 2. It has been a rough road, but I am doing well. I am gaining weight and gaining strength everyday. I have follow-up in a few weeks, but so far, so good. I consider myself lucky. Let me know how your Mom is doing.

Good Luck,

Philmar