On April 20, Beijing Kexing Biotech issued an obituary that Cao Xiaobin, a senior manager of the company's Government Affairs Center, died on April 17 at the age of 45 due to ineffective treatment for cholangiocarcinoma. Xiaobin Cao graduated from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention with a doctorate degree in epidemiology and health statistics. The age of youth is hard to withstand the ravages of disease, company executives, medical doctors, these titles have become a cloud for him.
It is said that Dr. Cao felt unwell in mid-March and went to the hospital for examination, and died on April 17 due to ineffective treatment for cholangiocarcinoma, which was only a month away, and the disease developed so quickly, indicating that the condition was already very serious when it was discovered.
Many people know liver cancer and pancreatic cancer, and think that they are the king of cancer, in fact, there is another kind of cancer known as the "cancer king" is bile duct cancer. Cholangiocarcinoma, as the name suggests, is a cancer that grows on the bile ducts, which is a malignant tumor that originates from the epithelial cells of the bile ducts. According to the location of the bile ducts, it is divided into intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma and extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma, with the highest incidence of hepatic hilar bile duct carcinoma and relatively low intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma. The incidence of hepatic tube carcinoma is 45-70 years old, and the incidence is higher in men than in women. Bile duct cancer accounts for less than 1% of all malignant tumors, accounts for 3% of malignant tumors of the digestive tract, and from the perspective of incidence, bile duct cancer is a less common cancer.
The main causes of cholangiocarcinoma are cholangitis, cholangiocysts, hepatobiliary duct stones, liver fluke infection, etc., and primary sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune cholangitis are also significantly related to the occurrence of bile duct cancer. Compared with European and American countries, the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma in mainland China is higher, one of the reasons is that the prevalence of liver flukes in mainland China was too high in the past, and liver flukes were identified as an important factor in the carcinogenicity of cholangiocarcinoma. In addition to liver flukes, bile duct stones are also one of the causes of cholangiocarcinoma, and many patients with bile duct cancer have a trilogy of "bile duct stones - cholangitis - cholangiocarcinoma".
Why is "cholangiocarcinoma" a survival nightmare?
The location of cholangiocarcinoma is very special, located at the junction of the two organs of the liver and gallbladder, so the operation is very difficult. Even if radical surgery is performed after early detection, recurrent metastases are prone to occur. In addition, because of the special location, the symptoms of the early stage of cholangiocarcinoma are also very inconspicuous, even if there are symptoms, it is difficult to be detected by patients, generally rely on physical examination or accidental examination to find, and most of the obvious symptoms are already advanced in the disease. In terms of treatment, bile duct cancer, like pancreatic cancer, is insensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the treatment effect is poor. Therefore, the prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma is very poor, the survival period is very short, advanced cholangiocarcinoma is not treated, the survival period is only 3-6 months, and the survival rate of hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma, even if it is treated with surgery in the early stage, is only about 30%.
People at high risk of cholangiocarcinoma
1. People with long-term smoking and drinking habits have a significantly higher risk of cholangiocarcinoma. 2. Bad eating habits: long-term do not eat breakfast, like overeating, habit of eating high oil, fried food; 3. people who maintain a long-term state of obesity. 4. People with gallstones, studies have shown that 2.3%-9% of patients with bile duct stones will eventually develop bile duct cancer. 5. People with a family history of cholangiocarcinoma; 6. Other chronic hepatobiliary diseases: chronic viral hepatitis, congenital bile duct dilation, people with biliary parasites, patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.
The possibility of developing cholangiocarcinoma should be considered and promptly seen when the following symptoms occur: 1. Enlarged liver, discomfort in the right upper quadrant. 2. Yellowing of the skin. 3. Abdominal pain with bloating, loss of appetite, sudden weight loss, etc. 4. Abnormal color of bowel and urine (dark yellow or even soy sauce colored, earthy yellow or light yellow stool, advanced cholangiocarcinoma can cause melena due to biliary bleeding).