Hi Lana,
Xeloda converts to 5f when metabolized. 5fu is a well recognized med for a variety of cancers. But it is often used to greater advantage when combined with other meds, such as Gemzar, Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin. If your husband is getting good results on a single agent, then you may choose to let that bet ride for a while; but be ready to add other meds if the Xeloda stops working. One woman I know of (and have spoken to) has been alive 4 years with cholangio, and is doing well, on this combination therapy. The object here is to stay ahead of the wave while better approaches are discovered. There is no magic bullet for now, but the survival has improved a lot in the last few years, due primarily to the ability to keep the bile ducts open while additional chemo is tried. Mayo clinic in the States is using a novel approach to dealing with the duct problem called photodynamic therapy. It is described at the following link.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/bile-duct-cancer/treatment.html. See also
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&d But doctors I trust at Sloan-Kettering in NY and elswhere would tell you that you should not use this as primary treatment. Chemo is the only way to go for that. If the liver starts to fail before all chemo approaches have had a fair chance, then local therapy like this is used to restore liver function and give chemo more time to work. Good Luck. Jeff