Surgical therapy of cholangiocellular carcinomas and proximal bile duct tumors

According to its different location, clinical features, treatment modalitie s and prognosis, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma should be well differentia ted from proximal bile duct carcinoma. There is no therapeutic measure with curative potential apart from surgical treatment. Partial or extended hepa tectomy is the treatment of choice in cholangiocarcinoma. Thereby, hilar re section in combination with hepatectomy is increasingly performed in proxim al bile duct carcinomas. In most centers liver transplantation is not consi dered as a therapeutic option for irresectable cholangiocarcinomas.