Treatment and prognosis in bile duct cancer

Over the past 30 years, a total of 165 patients with bile duct cancer have been studied at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), U.S.A. A review of careful retrospective analyses of surgical treatment is presented. The data support a treatment strategy of resection of those tumors which can be grossly removed at operation. Palliation of other patients is best done by biliary‐enteric bypass or operative intubation. The higher morbidity and mortality rates for palliative resections, together with a poorer quality of life in those patients surviving this procedure, argue against resection for palliative purposes.