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Gallbladder and bile duct cancer are relatively rare. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 9,500 new cases of gallbladder and bile duct cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States.
The Gallbladder & Bile Ducts
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located just underneath the liver. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, a fluid made by the liver that helps digest fats in the small intestine. The gallbladder contracts during digestion, releasing bile into the small intestine.
Bile ducts within the liver join together to form one main bile duct, located immediately outside the liver, which carries bile to the small intestine. This main bile duct is called the common hepatic duct. The cystic duct joins the gallbladder to the common hepatic duct, and the combined duct is called the common bile duct.
Types of Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancer
Most primary gallbladder and bile duct cancers are adenocarcinomas, growths that begin in the mucus glands that line the insides of the gallbladder and bile ducts.
Bile duct tumors are known as cholangiocarcinoma. These tumors can occur in the main bile duct outside the liver (extrahepatic) or within the liver (intrahepatic):
Extrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer
Most bile duct cancers develop outside the liver. About two-thirds of all extrahepatic tumors are found in the perihilar region of the bile ducts, where the two main bile ducts meet as they leave the liver. These tumors are also called Klatskin tumors. The remaining extrahepatic bile duct tumors are called distal tumors, which are found closer to the small intestine.
Intrahepatic Bile Duct Cancer
About one in ten bile duct cancers develop in the small duct branches within the liver. Intrahepatic bile duct tumors are often confused with primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), a type of cancer that begins in the liver. (For information about hepatocellular carcinoma, visit that section of our Web site.)
