Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is an uncommon and highly fatal malignancy. It is composed of three main different entities; Gall bladder carcinoma (GBC), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCC) and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (eCC) sharing different genetic, risk factors and clinical presentation. Multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance cholangio-pancreatography (MRCP) are the more important diagnostic techniques. Surgery is the only potentially curative therapy but disease recurrence is frequent. Treatment with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or both has not demonstrated survival benefit in the adjuvant setting. Cisplatin plus gemcitabine constitutes the gold standard in metastatic disease. New ongoing studies mainly in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant setting along with molecular research will hopefully help to improve survival and quality of life of this disease.
Keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Cholangiocarcinoma; Gall bladder cancer.