Dilated Bile Duct Pancreatic Cancer

Your doctor may recommend that a plastic or metal tube stent be placed inside the bile duct to hold it open.

Dilated bile duct pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer that blocks the liver s bile duct can cause jaundice. This condition also known as bile duct cancer is an uncommon form of cancer that occurs mostly in people older than age 50 though it can occur at any age. Bile duct cancer refers to all cancers that develop within the biliary system. The bile ducts are tubes that transport bile from a person s liver to the gallbladder and small intestine.

Additional symptoms of ipmns include stomach pain vomiting and queasiness. Bile ducts connect your liver to your gallbladder and to your small intestine. Jaundice usually occurs without abdominal pain. Pancreatic cancers can cause a bile duct obstruction if the tumor enters.

Ipmns are lesions that develop inside the pancreatic ducts that can progress into pancreatic cancer if left untreated. People with bile duct cancer may not feel hungry and may lose weight without trying to do so. Signs include yellow skin and eyes dark colored urine and pale colored stools. The mayo clinic explains that bile duct cancer also known as cholangiocarcinoma is cancer that forms in the slender tubes bile ducts that carry the digestive fluid known as bile.

Malignant cancer of the bile duct is called cholangiocarcinoma and grows slowly. The images can show narrowing or blockage of these ducts. Johns hopkins university explains that a dilated pancreatic duct may also indicate an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm also referred to as an ipmn. Some people with bile duct cancer develop fevers.

These are not common symptoms of bile duct cancer but they may occur in people who develop an infection cholangitis as a result of bile duct blockage. The resulting tumors may block a bile duct. It eventually spreads throughout the liver. A dilated bile duct or one that is enlarged typically occurs when there is an obstruction blocking the flow of bile when the bile cannot pass through a particular duct it builds up and the structure becomes distended.

The dye helps outline the bile ducts and pancreatic duct as x rays are taken. A small amount of contrast dye is injected through the catheter. Cholangiocarcinoma is cancer that forms in the slender tubes bile ducts that carry the digestive fluid bile.