Diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma in primary sclerosing cholangitis

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the hepatobiliary system characterized by chronic inflammation, progressive fibrosis, stricture formation and destruction of extrahepatic and intrahepatic bile ducts.

Areas covered: The increased incidence of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) in PSC has been well documented and can be explained by the continuous inflammation in the biliary tree leading to an enhanced dysplasia–carcinoma sequence. Although PSC patients may progress to liver cirrhosis; CCA most commonly occurs between the ages of 30 and 45 years when cirrhosis has not yet developed. Therefore, CCA in patients with PSC occurs earlier than in patients without PSC.

Expert commentary: Despite improvement in diagnostic methods and devices, the dilemma of diagnosing CCA in patients with PSC has not been solved yet and needs further investigation.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• cholangiocarcinoma

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This article was not funded.