Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, which has a high recurrence rate, can be predicted with a blood test.

A study has found that a simple blood test can predict the likelihood of extrahepatic bile duct cancer recurrence.

 

The path through which bile produced in the liver descends to the duodenum is called the bile duct. The part inside the liver is called the intrahepatic bile duct, and the part outside the liver that connects to the duodenum is called the extrahepatic bile duct. Even with surgery, cancer arising in the extrahepatic bile duct has a high recurrence rate of 50-70%. However, until now, there has been no method to predict the likelihood of recurrence.

 

Professor Yoo Chang-hoon's team at the Department of Oncology at Seoul Asan Medical Center analyzed the correlation between the detection of circulating tumor nucleic acid (ctDNA) and disease-free survival in 89 patients who underwent surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for extrahepatic bile duct cancer from January 2017 to November 2020.

Circulating tumor nucleic acids (CTUs) are the remains of cancer cells. As cancer cells grow, they transform surrounding normal cells, causing CTUs, fragments of genes that have been specifically altered, to circulate in the bloodstream. Recently, the medical community, both domestically and internationally, has been focusing on CTU testing as a method for early detection of cancer. CTUs can be detected through a blood test.

The research team conducted blood tests three times: ▲ before adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery, ▲ 12 weeks after adjuvant chemotherapy, and ▲ 24 weeks after.

 

The analysis results showed that the risk of cancer recurrence was approximately four times higher in cases where circulating tumor nucleic acid (ctDNA) was positive than in cases where it was negative. In cases where ctDNA was positive and then converted to negative, the survival rate was similar to that in cases where it was continuously negative. Among 11 patients with recurrent extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, three patients converted from negative to positive ctDNA an average of 222 days before the recurrence was detected on CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), and five patients converted from negative to positive ctDNA an average of 174 days before the recurrence was detected. Tumor marker tests such as CA19-9 and CEA were normal at the time of the conversion to positive ctDNA, showing that ctDNA has a better ability to predict the risk of recurrence than these.

 

Professor Yoo Chang-hoon said, “Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has a high recurrence rate even after surgery, so the need for a biomarker that can more accurately predict the risk of recurrence has been continuously raised in clinical practice.” He added, “If we can detect circulating tumor nucleic acids with a simple blood test before detecting cancer recurrence with CT or MRI, and identify the possibility of recurrence early, it is expected that preemptive treatment will be possible.”

 

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A disease that comes without a sound

It's called the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

 

The recurrence rate seems to be high.

 

If you can find out with a blood test

It will be very helpful

I think they do a lot of ultrasound tests