Educational Resources on Bile Duct Cancer (Cholangiocarcinoma)

This site provides educational information about bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. The content is based on recorded discussions with medical oncologists and other healthcare experts, as well as conversations with individuals living with bile duct cancer.

The goal of this site is to preserve and share reliable educational content that explains general principles in oncology, supports informed conversations with care teams, and reflects both medical expertise and patient experiences related to bile duct cancer.

Purpose & Scope

The information presented on this site was originally developed as part of a continuing medical education (CME) program. While the program is no longer active for CME credit, the educational content remains relevant and valuable.

This site exists to:

Keep expert knowledge accessible beyond the original program timeframe
Support patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals with medically grounded information
Highlight perspectives from both clinicians and individuals affected by bile duct cancer

All content is presented for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide personal medical advice.

Content Format: Expert & Patient Contributions

Educational content on this site includes:

Video interviews with medical experts, including medical oncologists, cancer researchers, and specialists
Patient and caregiver perspectives, offering insight into lived experience
Structured educational summaries that contextualize expert discussions
Topic-based organization to support learning and reference

Videos are embedded directly on the site so viewers can engage with the material without leaving the educational context.

Who This Site Is For

Patients & Caregivers

Learn about bile duct cancer in clear, accessible language
Hear directly from medical experts and patients
Better understand diagnosis, treatment approaches, and lived experiences

Healthcare Professionals

Review expert perspectives on cholangiocarcinoma
Explore general oncologic principles discussed by specialists
Access educational material originally developed for professional learning

Educational Topics

This site covers a range of educational topics, including:

What bile duct cancer is and how it is classified
Diagnostic approaches and imaging
Treatment considerations and general management principles
Patient and caregiver experiences
Supportive care and resources

Explore educational topics here:

→ Education

Meet the Experts

The educational content on this site features contributions from recognized medical oncologists, researchers, nurses, patient navigators, and patient advocates affiliated with leading cancer centers and institutions and foundations.

Expert contributors are identified on individual pages and collectively on the Meet the Experts page, along with their credentials and institutional affiliations.

→ Meet the Experts

Spanish-Language Educational Resources

Selected educational content is also available in Spanish through a dedicated Spanish-language site. This resource is intended to support Spanish-speaking patients, caregivers, and community members.

→ Información en Español

Important Notice

Legal Disclaimer

This program is for educational purposes only. This information is not intended to replace the judgement of a medical professional.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the consultants and do not necessarily represent those of the joint providers, developers or funders.

Medical information is constantly evolving. Please check with a medical professional for the latest information on health matters.

Featured Expert Discussion

This short expert-led discussion provides an educational overview of bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) and why it is often diagnosed at late stage, and introduces key concepts addressed throughout this site. The video reflects general principles in oncology and is intended to support learning and informed conversations between patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

Educational use only. Not intended as medical advice.

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Bile duct cancer is also known as cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Bile Duct Cancer can often happen in the liver, with a tumor that forms inside the liver (called intrahepatic CCA) or outside the liver (extrahepatic CCA).

This educational program provides the opportunity for learners, patients, caregivers and family to:

Review expert videos about commonly asked questions
Review patient and patient navigator videos
Learn from animated videos about cancer
Download Infographics and Checklists about cancer, to share in future discussions with healthcare providers, to improve outcomes by better understanding of cancer diagnosis, treatment and management options.

Understanding Bile Duct Cancers

Bile Duct Cancers can be of different types, including inside the liver (intrahepatic), outside the liver (extra hepatic), hilar or perihilar cancers, distal cholangiocarcinoma, mixed Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Cholangiocarcinoma (mixed HCC-CCA) and metastatic. It is important to understand some of the biology of the disease, and its complexity, which is less well understood due to the rare nature of this type of cancer. Some aspects of cancer are also common to other types of cancers, and there may be overlap in the types of cancer a patient experiences.

Diverse Cultural Communities have Different Cancer Journeys

This program seeks to reveal some of the unique challenges faced by diverse communities, including African Americans, Native Americans (Indigenous), Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans.
Please provide Comments and Feedback via our Evaluation to help improve diversity of perspectives in future programs.

Diagnosis and Biomarker Testing

Bile Duct Cancers do not have a gold standard test that can definitively determine one versus another, and rely on the consensus of a multidisciplinary team of medical experts, sometimes as part of a tumor board in a specialized hospital often called a Center of Excellence. Every patient has different DNA that can be analyzed and tested for certain genetic mutations. These mutations can help to allocate specific therapies that may work to kill the cancer cells.

Health Literacy & Numeracy

Our goal is to provide explanations in language that is easy to understand, where possible, and to support patients and caregivers in their shared decision-making with physicians and a multidisciplinary healthcare team.
Understanding the Burden of Disease and essential epidemiology is important context for patients and caregivers.

Treatment and Management

Bile Duct Cancers are difficult cancers to treat and treatment recommendations require the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team of medical experts, including medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals. Treatment and management requires extensive support from Caregivers, Family Members, Patient Navigators, Social Workers, and Mental Health Professionals. Often it requires specialized expertise only found in Cancer Centers. Every patient has a unique cancer signature and a unique cancer journey.

Comments and Program Evaluation

Our goal is to expand upon the educational resources presented here in future and respond to evolving needs of patients and caregivers dealing with gastrointestinal cancers (GI Cancers) including bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma).
Please provide Comments and Feedback via our Evaluation to help improve future program content.

Faculty of Medical Experts & Patients

This educational program was developed in collaboration with a Faculty that includes medical oncologists, medical experts and patients who have experienced bile duct cancer. Our faculty includes 2 medical oncologists who regularly treat bile duct cancer. We also incorporate the expertise of a medical pathologist, a cancer researcher, a social worker and expert in Native American cancer journeys, a Registered Nurse who has also experienced Bile Duct Cancer, a Patient with Stage 4 Bile Duct Cancer, and Patient Navigators representing perspectives from Hispanic American and Native American communities. Learn more about our Experts and Faculty here or by watching this video:

What are the Challenges of Bile Duct Cancer Diagnosis?

Dr Rachna T. Shroff Medical Oncologist, explains that there are a number of reasons patients are diagnosed at more advanced or later stages when it comes to bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma). These include difficulty in terms of understanding the tissue and the pathology diagnosis, as well as the clinical and medical workup that often happens when patients present with relatively vague symptoms. Furthermore, biopsies that are obtained sometimes don't have enough tissue for the pathologist to determine cholangiocarcinoma. There is no gold standard test available.

The Bile Duct System looks like a tree and is sometimes called the Biliary Tree. The top "branches" are actually inside the liver. The "trunk" of the tree is outside the liver and connects to the Gall Bladder, the Pancreas and Bowel.

What Are the Various Types of Bile Duct Cancer?

When cells located in the bile duct system inside or outside the liver become cancerous, it is called bile duct cancer or cholangiocarcinoma. Learn more about Bile Duct Cancer by watching the video by Dr. Sunyoung Lee, Medical Oncologist. Additional videos explain the different types of Bile Duct Cancer, its diagnosis, treatment and management.

What is the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cancer Pathology?

Dr Kun-Hsing Yu explains the basics of cancer pathology which can include a determination of the tumor cellular shape and histology. There is a potential future role for medical artificial intelligence or "AI" in improving health outcomes for cancer patients, including patients with bile duct cancer or cholangiocarcinoma. AI in medicine has the potential to help reduce racial disparities in cancer care by democratizing diagnosis and providing additional diagnostic support in communities where next level genomic sequencing is not widely available. However AI also has its ethical challenges and is only accurate when it has access to a wide range of data, including lack of data on the health of black Americans, Hispanic Americans and other minority populations.

How does Bile Duct Cancer impact Native Americans?

What are the Challenges for Indigenous People with Bile Duct CancerCancer? Dr. Rodney C. Haring PhD and Haudenosaunee Native American, discusses challenges to the health of indigenous people from cancer. He presents the Haudenosaunee perspective. Health of indigenous people needs to be understood in the context of changes in lifestyle as a result of historical relocation to Reservations and colonization.

What are the Mental Health Challenges for Patients with Bile Duct Cancer?

Dr. Shailesh Advani is a cancer research physician. He explains that almost 40% of patients diagnosed with bile duct cancer report some form of anxiety and suicide, although rare is twice the level of the general population. Physicians, and especially oncologists who treat these types of cancer are also at higher risk of depression than the general population.

What is the Experience of a Patient with Early Stage Bile Duct Cancer?

Tanya Jennison is a Registered Nurse and has experienced bile duct cancer in its early stages. Tanya Jennison explains her situation, including a diagnosis with early stage 1A bile duct cancer or cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and the challenges she encountered with testing and surgery. However she found great support from the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation. If there was one thing she wants other patients to know its to have an early conversation about Biomarker testing with your doctor or oncologist.

What is the Experience of a Patient with Late Stage Bile Duct Cancer?

Donna Marie Martin is a Patient with a personal experience of Stage 4 Bile Duct Cancer (Cholangiocarcinoma). Donna has unresectable bile duct cancer which implies she is not a candidate for surgery due to the fact that her tumor is inside the liver (intrahepatic) and the portion of her healthy liver is not large enough to grow back again after surgery. Learn more by watching her video:

What are the Challenges for Hispanic Americans with Bile Duct Cancer?

Jomary Colon is a Spanish Patient Navigator that helps Hispanic cancer patients in their journey. Her group Esperanza y Vida provides Spanish speaking Patient Navigators to Cancer patients to support them with cancer education, patient transportation, cancer screening information, and Spanish interpretation. Learn more about the challenges for Hispanic American cancer patients.

What is the Role of Patient Navigators in Native American Communities?

Whitney Ann E. Henry is a Native American Patient Navigator that helps indigenous cancer patients in their journey. She shares her experience s from the Native American Indigenous community of the Eastern USA. Whitney discusses intergenerational challenges with health care.

What is Targeted Therapy for Bile Duct Cancer Treatment?

Targeted therapy is different to Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy. It may be an option for some patients. Learn more about Targeted Therapy for Bile Duct Cancer by watching this video below by Dr. Sunyoung Lee, Medical Oncologist.

What is Immunotherapy for Bile Duct Cancer Treatment?

Immunotherapy is different to Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapy. It may be an option for some patients. Learn more about Immunotherapy for Bile Duct Cancer by watching this video below by Dr. Sunyoung Lee, Medical Oncologist.

What is Chemotherapy for Bile Duct Cancer Management and Treatment?

Chemotherapy is different to Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy. It may be an option for some patients. Learn more about Chemotherapy for Bile Duct Cancer by watching this video below by Dr. Sunyoung Lee, Medical Oncologist. Chemotherapy has well known but rare side effects, including potentially nausea and sometimes vomiting and generally fatigue and gastrointestinal track symptoms like diarrhea and usually numbness and tingling.

Learn More About Bile Duct Cancer

Comments? Evaluation and Feedback

Educational use only. Not intended as medical advice.

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