Key Statistics for Bile Duct Cancer

Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) is rare in the United States, but it is more common in Southeast Asia. It occurs most often in older people.

How common is bile duct cancer?

Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) is rare. About 8,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with it each year. This includes both intrahepatic (inside the liver) and extrahepatic (outside the liver) bile duct cancers. But the actual number of cases is likely to be higher, because these cancers can be hard to diagnose. And some might be misclassified as other types of cancer.

Bile duct cancer is more common in Southeast Asia than other places. This is mostly because liver flukes are much more common there. Liver flukes are a parasitic infection that can cause bile duct cancer.

Who gets bile duct cancer?

Bile duct cancer is seen mainly in older people, but it can occur in younger people. In the US, the average age at diagnosis is in the 70s.

The chances of survival for people with bile duct cancer depend largely on its location and how advanced it is when it's found. For more on this, see Survival Statistics for Bile Duct Cancers.

Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.