Controversy in surgical therapy of hilar cholangiocarcinoma / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Since the 1980s, indications for resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma have progressively improved. Operation is superior to any other therapeutic modalities with regard to survival rate and quality of life. Currently, hepatic lobectomy, extended hepatic lobectomy, extrahepatic bile duct resection, regional lymphadenectomy and Roux-en-Y hepatoenteric jejunos-tomy are recommended as the treatment of choice for most patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. However, controversy still remains regarding the diagnosis and treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, including the assessment of longitudinal tumor extension, the evaluation of hepatic reserve function, the value of biliary drainage, the indication of portal vein emboliza-tion, the range of hepatic resection, the contribution of com-bined vascular resection, and the effectiveness of liver transplan-tation. This article summarizes these main issues requiring further investigation.