ESMO Patients Guide
How is biliary tract cancer diagnosed? A diagnosis of biliary tract cancer is based on the results of the following examinations and tests:
Clinical examination If you have symptoms of biliary tract cancer, your doctor may carry out a general clinical examination to feel any areas of your abdomen that are swollen or painful.
Biomarker blood test Your doctor may recommend that you have a blood test to check the levels of a tumour biomarker called cancer antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9). People with biliary tract cancer might have raised levels of CA 19-9 in their blood. However, it is important to understand that some people with biliary tract cancer don’t have raised levels of CA 19-9, and that raised CA 19-9 levels can also occur in other conditions (including non-cancerous conditions). For these reasons, a blood test alone cannot provide a diagnosis.
Clinical examination and a blood test can indicate if further tests are needed
Imaging Your doctor may recommend that you have an ultrasound scan to look at your bile ducts, gallbladder and the surrounding organs for signs of cancer (Valle et al., 2016). A handheld ultrasound scanner is placed onto the abdomen and produces sound waves to create a picture of the internal organs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are widely used to diagnose biliary tract cancer (Valle et al., 2016). MRI uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body. A particular type of MRI scan called a magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) may be used to give a very detailed picture of the bile ducts, gallbladder, pancreas and any tumours. An MRI scan may also be used to look at the liver in more detail. Computed tomography (CT) is a type of x-ray technique that lets doctors see your internal organs in crosssection. CT scans may be used in the diagnosis of biliary tract cancer, but are more often used to evaluate the extent of the cancer elsewhere in the body.
Biliary tract cancer is usually diagnosed using imaging tests
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