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Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides information and answers for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
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Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through video calls and online chat. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Immunotherapy is the use of medicines to help a person’s immune system better recognize and destroy cancer cells. Many of these drugs are being tested in clinical trials to see if they might help treat bile duct cancer.
To learn more about how drugs that work on the immune system are used to treat cancer, see Cancer Immunotherapy.
To learn about some of the side effects listed here and how to manage them, see Managing Cancer-related Side Effects.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Abou-Alfa GK, Jarnagin W, Lowery M, D’Angelica M, Brown K, Ludwig E, Covey A, Kemeny N, Goodman KA, Shia J, O’Reilly EM. Liver and bile duct cancer. In: Neiderhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA. Elsevier; 2014:1373-1395.
Blair AB, Murphy A. Immunotherapy as a treatment for biliary tract cancers: A review of approaches with an eye to the future. Curr Probl Cancer. 2017 Oct [Epub ahead of print].
National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Bile Duct (Cholangiocarcinoma) Cancer Treatment. 03/14/2018. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/liver/hp/bile-duct-treatment-pdq on March 29, 2018.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Hepatobiliary Cancers. v.1.2018. Accessed at https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/hepatobiliary.pdf on March 29, 2018.
Patel T, Borad MJ. Carcinoma of the biliary tree. In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2015:715-735.
Rizvi S, Khan SA, Hallemeier CL, Kelley RK, Gores GJ. Cholangiocarcinoma: Evolving concepts and therapeutic strategies. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2018 Mar;15(2):95-111.
Last Revised: July 3, 2018
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