Treatment of Bile Duct Cancer
Your treatment will vary according to the location and size of your tumor, whether it has spread (metastasized), and the state of your overall health.

Surgery
Surgical treatment is the only option that offers a cure, especially if your cancer has been caught early and hasn’t spread beyond your liver or bile ducts. Sometimes, if a tumor is still confined to the bile ducts, you may only need to have the ducts removed. If the cancer has spread beyond the ducts and into your liver, part or all of the liver may have to be removed. If your entire liver must be removed, you’ll need a liver transplant to replace it.

If your cancer has invaded nearby organs, a Whipple procedure may be carried out. In this procedure, your surgeon removes:

the bile ducts
the gallbladder
the pancreas
sections of your stomach and gut

Even if your cancer can’t be cured, you can have surgery to treat the blocked bile ducts and relieve some of your symptoms. Typically, the surgeon either inserts a tube to hold the duct open or creates a bypass. This can help to treat your jaundice. A blocked section of the gut can also be treated surgically.