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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Nov 15, 2010; 2(11): 407-416
Published online Nov 15, 2010. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v2.i11.407
Published online Nov 15, 2010. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v2.i11.407
Intra-hepatic and extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma: New insight into epidemiology and risk factors
Vincenzo Cardinale, Rossella Semeraro, Alessia Torrice, Manuela Gatto, Cristina Napoli, Maria Consiglia Bragazzi, Raffaele Gentile, Domenico Alvaro, Dipartimento di Scienze e Biotecnologie Medico-Chirurgiche, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Author contributions: Cardinale V and Alvaro D provided substantial contributions to conception and design, drafting and revising the article; Semeraro R, Torrice A, Gatto M, Napoli C, Bragazzi MC and Gentile R provided contributions to literature evaluation and collection and to revising the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Domenico Alvaro, MD, Dipartimento di Scienze e Biotecnologie Medico-Chirurgiche, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell’Università 37, 00185 Rome, Italy. domenico.alvaro@uniroma1.it
Telephone: +39-6-49972052 Fax: +39-6-4453319
Received: August 3, 2010
Revised: November 4, 2010
Accepted: November 11, 2010
Published online: November 15, 2010
Revised: November 4, 2010
Accepted: November 11, 2010
Published online: November 15, 2010
Abstract
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a malignant tumour that arises from biliary epithelium at any portion of the biliary tree. CCA is currently classified as intra-hepatic or extra-hepatic CCA (EH-CCA). Recent evidences suggest that intra-hepatic CCA (IH-CCA) and EH-CCA are biologically different cancers, giving further support to a number of recent epidemiological studies showing large differences in terms of incidence, mortality and risk factors. The purpose of this manuscript is to review recent literature dealing with the descriptive epidemiology and risk factors of CCA with a special effort to compare IH- with EH-CCA.
Keywords: Liver flukes, Viral hepatitis, Liver stem cells, Peribiliary glands, Epidemiology, Extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma, Risk factors, Primary sclerosing cholangitis, Intra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma, Liver cirrhosis