Clinical Management of Cholangiocarcinoma: Surgical Approaches and Therapies

About this Research Topic

Background

Cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, is a widespread and aggressive malignancy that still has low survival rates nowadays. There are two main types of cholangiocarcinoma, it can be intrahepatic or, in most cases, extrahepatic. A variety of tests is available for diagnosis of this type of cancer and understanding the stage of the tumor is also crucial to pan treatment. Complete resection via appropriate surgical intervention is possible if the tumor is localized. Other treatments include liver transplant and also radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

In this Research Topic we aim to give a broad overview of the management of cholangiocarcinoma. We want to focus on surgical treatment of this malignancy, highlighting the latest techniques and technologies used for resection. Furthermore, we aim at collecting the most recent developments in the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. The precision of the diagnosis is crucial to determine whether the tumor is localized, which is a pre-condition for resection. Studies on markers and therapeutic targets that can help in the management of cases in which the surgery was not successful are also welcome. We also want to consider cases in which liver transplant is necessary and expand current knowledge of metastatic cases of cholangiocarcinoma.

We accept all types of studies regarding the management of cholangiocarcinoma with a particular focus on the surgical treatment of this malignancy, the diagnosis that leads to surgical resection or liver transplant and adjuvant therapies that are used along surgery. We also welcome reviews of the current state of the art of management of cholangiocarcinoma and molecular studies on therapeutic targets and biomarkers that are relevant to localized cholangiocarcinoma and therefore useful to plan surgical treatment.

Please note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.

Keywords: Cholangiocarcinoma, metastasis, resection, biomarkers, therapy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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