This volume discusses new developments in the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of cholangiocarcinoma induced by the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini. Although cholangiocarcinoma is rare in the Western world, it has a very high incidence in continental Southeast Asian countries, where it is linked to infection with O. viverrini. In Southeast Asia this cancer causes thousands of deaths every year and places a severe socioeconomic burden on the affected families. Diagnosis is usually at a late disease stage, and in the past palliative surgery and care have been the major therapeutic options. Recently, however, techniques have become available for early-stage diagnosis that offer the possibility of curative surgery, and novel chemotherapeutic options are also under development. In Thailand alone, more than 2 million individuals have now been registered for screening for this cancer. The aim of this book is to highlight the latest research in the field and to explain how the newly available techniques can be applied to reduce the risk of developing cholangiocarcinoma and increase the likelihood of survival.

Autorentext

Assoc. Prof. Narong Khuntikeo is the director and initiator of the Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) Research Institute (CARI) and The Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) at Khon Kaen University, Thailand. The institute and program aim to reduce the mortality caused by CCA by reducing the incidence of infection with the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini, the main risk factor for developing CCA, as well as developing new clinical approaches to early disease diagnosis, surgery and chemotherapy. To date over 600,000 at-risk individuals have been screened ba CASCAP to detect early stage disease.Prof. Khuntikeo received his MD at the Faculty of Medicine in Khon Kaen in 1984 and received a fellowship in Hepato-Pancreatic Biliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane in 1994. He is the recipient of numerous awards and extensive funding for his work on combatting CCA.Ross H Andrews and Trevor N Petney have done extensive work on O. viverrini including its systematics, genetic variability, host choice and transmission dynamics. Both are senior advisors at the Cholangiocarcinoma Research Institute, Khon Kaen University. Shahid A Khan is an internationally renowned liver specialist in biliary cancer.