Klatskin's tumor is a cancer of the proximal bile ducts. A tumor of this kind forms in the upper bile ducts, where they divide between the lobes of the liver. Klatskin tumors can form in both ducts or in one of them, as well as at the exit from the liver. As the disease progresses, the tumor may spread to the hepatic blood vessels.
General information about the disease
Despite the fact that modern medicine has acquired a lot of useful tools through which it is possible to detect and promptly diagnose the disease, oncological diseases of the liver and pancreas have been little studied. In particular, this state of affairs concerns the extrahepatic segment of the digestive organs. Certain risk groups are most susceptible to Klatskin tumors. The first is children under 5 years of age who do not suffer from pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. The second - people who have crossed the 60-year mark, who have significant disorders in the functioning of the biliary tract.
Oncological diseases can occur for a variety of reasons, but modern medicine defines the following: toxic waste released into the atmosphere in large quantities;stress and other nervous disorders; environmental pollution; bad habits. In addition, malnutrition can also serve as the cause of the formation of a Klatskin tumor:
- use of genetically modified foods;
- alcohol abuse;
- consuming a lot of preservatives and food additives.
The disease appears as a result of a complex of problems that give rise to somatic diseases. They eventually form neoplasms of a different nature. If you do not pay attention to the symptoms and start the disease, it progresses quickly and causes considerable discomfort.
Classification of tumors of the bile ducts
- Benign: papillomas, lipomas, adenomas.
- Malignant: cholangiocellular carcinoma, gallbladder cancer, bile duct cancer.
- Klatskin tumor.
Classification by area of localization
- Affecting the bile ducts along with the liver fork.
- The defeat of one of the ducts.
- The defeat of both ducts.
Patient complaints
This disease is diagnosed by doctors very rarely. Successful treatment depends on many factors, but the most significant is the time of the patient's visit to the doctor. If a person turns to a specialist on time, treatment in most cases is successful, but if the disease is running, successful results are most likely not to be expected. Usually Klatskin's tumor is diagnosed in the processexaminations due to other acute or chronic disorders of the digestive tract.
In other cases, patients come to a gastroenterologist for help with just such a problem. The most common patient complaints in this case are:
- heaviness in the side;
- general body weakness and fatigue;
- vague and unpleasant taste sensations in the mouth;
- malaise.
Oncology itself is not so easy to diagnose. The fact is that Klatskin's tumor - obstructive jaundice, as it is also called - has signs similar to various diseases, such as the parenchyma of the liver or biliary tract.
Symptoms
In terms of symptoms, the disease has the following features:
- significant weight loss in a short time;
- urine becomes darker, stools lighter;
- with the active course of the disease, itching of the skin, skin rashes appear;
- growing tumor causes pain in different areas of the abdomen, which appear in the later stages of the course of the disease.
Etiological factors in the development of malignant formations in the extrahepatic bile ducts are almost unknown. But the following can be considered as predisposing to the development of the disease:
- very often in people over 60 Klatskin's tumor occurs in conjunction with cholelithiasis;
- Genetic predisposition is also of great importance, especially for people of mature, but not old age;
- primary sclerosing cholangitis can be considered among precursor diseases;
- Hepatitis B and C viruses are the least common catalyst for the disease.
How the presence of the disease is detected
Several methods can be used to detect a Klatskin tumor:
- Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography - with this procedure, doctors take a complete X-ray of the bile ducts. For the procedure, the patient is forbidden to eat and drink 6 hours before it starts, at the same time he is given sedatives. The procedure begins with the introduction of a local anesthetic into the right abdomen, then a thin needle is inserted through the skin into the bile ducts, through which the dye is injected. Then an x-ray is taken, which shows if there are any disorders in the biliary tract. The entire procedure to control the accuracy of needle entry is performed using an ultrasound machine. Patients are given antibiotics before and after a percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram to prevent infection.
- Angiography. This type of diagnosis is prescribed if the duct is located near the main blood vessels of the liver. With the help of angiography, it is determined whether the vessels are affected by a leaking tumor. It is performed as follows: a thin tube is inserted into the inguinal artery, throughwhich a specialized dye is administered, which is then passed into the artery.
- Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is also used in the occurrence of this oncological disease, it is applicable for tumor obstruction. Performed to more accurately determine the duration of the course of pathological processes after percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography.
- Magnetic resonance therapy is one of the most optimal methods of tumor research. It allows you to determine the exact localization and visualizes the structure of the vessels of the liver.
- Biopsy is the most effective method. Only it allows you to accurately determine the presence of a tumor, its structure and the nature of the tissues. For this purpose, a puncture is taken from the damaged area, which is then examined by microbiological analysis. This procedure is performed in conjunction with percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography.
Treatment of disease
As already mentioned, it is very difficult to recognize a Klatskin tumor. Treatment of cholangitis is the implementation of a set of measures to get rid of the disease. If treatment is not started on time, the patient will inevitably die within 4-6 months. Cancer is a disease that is difficult to treat, and Klatskin's tumor has the same characteristic. The treatment of this disease most often consists in the removal of the affected tissues. At the same time, it must be complete, that is, the affected tissues are removed with clean tissues. This is done so that there is no left in the affected areamalignant cells, sometimes one of the lobes of the liver is removed. If the Klatskin tumor, the prognosis of which is very difficult, cannot be removed due to damage to the circulatory system of the entire organ, radiation and chemotherapy are used, but, as a rule, they are ineffective.
Where to look for help
Despite the fact that the disease in question has long been known and there are ways to deal with it through the removal of tissues, there is still no single approach to the question of how to treat Klatskin's tumor. Treatment of purulent cholangitis is very successfully carried out in Israel in specialized clinics for the treatment of oncology. They have long had everything necessary to treat liver damage of this nature. It's no secret that Israel is a place of concentration of the strongest specialists in the field of medicine, so it is clear why Klatskin's tumor is also successfully treated there. Feedback from patients who have been treated there indicates that the service in Israeli cancer clinics is at the highest level.
