Cholangiocarcinoma in the Era of Precision Medicine

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) encompasses a spectrum of heterogeneous malignancies of the biliary tree within (iCCA) and outside (eCCA) the liver with poor prognosis. For most patients, treatment options are limited to palliative chemotherapy, because of the late diagnosis that precludes surgery, currently representing the cornerstone of cure. Notwithstanding, the treatment paradigm for CCA is rapidly evolving, due to the employment of cutting-edge technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS). The use of NGS has led to an unprecedented understanding of CCA tumor biology, unravelling the complex and heterogeneous genomic landscape of this disease and identifying a repertoire of actionable alterations in over 40% of patients