Assessment of Survival Rate among Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma in Shariati Hospital of Tehran, 1996-2003

Cholangiocarcinoma is a malignant tumor of the biliary tract epithelium. Although it is not a common tumor, it has a high mortality rate so that the five-year survival of the patients is only 5%. Most patients are found to have irresectable tumor on initial presentation. These have led to an emphasis on the role of palliative treatment. 43 patients with Cholangiocarcinoma (from 1996-2003) based on ERCP were included in this study. Demographic aspects, clinical and Para clinical manifestations as well as the risk factors were investigated and survival rates of the patients were compared with or without stenting of the biliary tract. 27 patients (62.8%) were male and 16(37.2%) were female with mean age of 65. Ulcerative colitis accompanied with PSC was diagnosed in just one case. Jaundice, weight loss and pruritus were the main complaints of the patients. Twenty-seven cases received stent in biliary tract through ERCP while no treatment was performed in other patients due to technical failure or patients’ disagreement. Mean survival time for all patients was 125 days. There were no statistically significant difference between survival rate of the patients with stent and without it. In this study cholangiocarcinoma in our patients was less frequently seen to accompany UC and PSC. Curative surgical resection is not possible in the majority of cases, and palliative treatment only decreases the severity of the symptoms but has no significant effect on survival.