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Cholangiocarcinoma is a malignant tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the bile ducts, mainly affecting middle-aged and elderly individuals, with a peak incidence over the age of 50. The disease develops insidiously and is often diagnosed at middle or late stages, making treatment difficult. Currently, clinical treatment options are gradually expanding, from traditional surgery to emerging immunotherapy, offering patients more choices. Missing the optimal treatment window significantly worsens prognosis, making proactive intervention especially important.
Immune reconstruction cell therapy is an emerging treatment that activates and restores the patient’s anti-tumor immune system, enabling it to recognize and eliminate cholangiocarcinoma cells, enhance immune recognition ability, and reduce the risk of recurrence and metastasis. This technology can be used as an adjuvant therapy after surgery or chemotherapy, or for advanced patients who cannot undergo surgery, improving disease control and quality of life.
① This therapy collects the patient’s immune cells, expands and reconstructs them in vitro, and reinfuses them to strengthen recognition and attack of bile duct tumor cells.
② In clinical practice, it is often combined with T cells, DC cells, or NK cells to enhance therapeutic effects.
③ It is suitable for postoperative adjuvant treatment in early and middle stages or for advanced patients who cannot undergo surgery, becoming an important supplementary treatment method.
In actual treatment, tumor patients undergoing surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy often face impaired immune function, increased risk of infection, and slow recovery. To better support patients through treatment, enhance tolerance, and improve survival quality, phased immune reconstruction plans should be scientifically designed for different treatment cycles.
● Short-term Plan: Rapidly enhance immunity through immune cell reinfusion, boosting the effectiveness of anti-tumor treatment.
● Mid-term Plan: Reduce side effects of traditional treatments, promote physical recovery, and complete standardized treatment courses.
● Long-term Plan: Improve overall immunity through immune cell reconstruction, gut immune reconstruction, elemental immune reconstruction, and immune nutrition reconstruction, thereby enhancing quality of life and prolonging survival.
1. Radical Surgery
If cholangiocarcinoma is detected early, radical resection is the first choice. This includes hepatectomy combined with bile duct resection or pancreaticoduodenectomy. The goal of surgery is to completely remove tumor tissue and ensure bile duct patency. Intraoperative biliary reconstruction may be required to maintain bile flow. Surgical indications depend on tumor location, size, local invasion, and the patient’s liver function evaluation.
2. Radiotherapy Combined with Chemotherapy
For patients who cannot undergo surgery or have a high risk of recurrence after surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are important treatment options. Chemotherapy drugs such as gemcitabine combined with cisplatin are mainstream regimens. Radiotherapy is used to control local lesions, relieve symptoms, and extend survival. Radiochemotherapy can be applied as preoperative tumor reduction or postoperative adjuvant therapy, as well as for recurrence control.
3. Targeted Therapy
Some cholangiocarcinomas have specific molecular mutations, such as FGFR2 fusion and IDH1 mutation, that can be treated with targeted drugs. These treatments are highly specific with relatively mild side effects, and are often used for patients unable to tolerate traditional treatments or with identifiable gene targets. Targeted therapy is still under continuous development and is expected to cover more cholangiocarcinoma subtypes in the future.
4. Minimally Invasive Interventional Therapy
With technological advances, various minimally invasive methods can also be applied in cholangiocarcinoma treatment. Percutaneous biliary stent placement, radiofrequency ablation, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) can be used to relieve jaundice and alleviate tumor compression symptoms, particularly suitable for patients unable to undergo surgery or with poor overall condition. Interventional therapy is often combined with systemic treatment and has advantages of minimal trauma and rapid recovery.
5. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as Adjunctive Therapy
In the overall treatment process, TCM is often used as an adjunct to help alleviate side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, improve appetite, and enhance immunity. TCM treatment is based on the principle of "strengthening vital energy and eliminating pathogenic factors," tailored to patients with weak constitutions. In actual practice, it should be reasonably combined with Western medicine to avoid interfering with primary treatments.
6. Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Management
The treatment of cholangiocarcinoma requires collaboration among hepatobiliary surgery, oncology, radiology, and interventional departments. Through MDT consultation, personalized comprehensive treatment plans can be developed according to tumor type, stage, and patient condition. United Life International Medical Center emphasizes patient-centered precision therapy, continuously optimizing treatment approaches.
7. Endoscopic and Interventional Therapy
Procedures such as Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiography Drainage (PTCD) can temporarily relieve jaundice symptoms, improve quality of life, and be combined with local treatments.
8. Minimally Invasive Ablation Techniques
Techniques such as radiofrequency ablation and photodynamic therapy are gradually being applied in cholangiocarcinoma. These methods are minimally invasive and promote rapid recovery but require individualized evaluation and are still in the stage of gradual promotion.
Cholangiocarcinoma is complex and requires diverse treatment approaches tailored to individual conditions. Experts at United Life International Medical Center suggest that early diagnosis and combined treatment strategies can significantly improve survival, while immune reconstruction cell therapy offers new hope for patients.
