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Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an adenocarcinoma of the hepatobiliary system, which can be classified into intrahepatic (iCCA), perihilar (pCCA) and distal (dCCA). Surgical resection is the curative treatment for all subtypes of CCA. This study evaluates patients with CCA who underwent surgery and determines factors that impact their survival. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 720 patients diagnosed with CCA from October 2013 to December 2018. Patients were categorized into iCCA (n = 398), pCCA (n = 237), and dCCA (n = 85) based on tumor location. Data including demographic information, clinical presentation, treatment modalities, and survival statistics were collected and analyzed. Results: The overall resectability rate was 78.3%, with resectability highest in pCCA patients (83.5%). Overall median survival time (MST) was 11.6 months and varied among subtypes: iCCA 10.9 months, pCCA 11.2 months, and dCCA 15.4 months. Patients underwent curative-intent resection significantly improved survival compared to those with palliative resection or unresectable disease in all subtypes. R0 resection patients had better overall survival (OS) than R1 resection patients: 5-year survival rate of 20.2% vs. 4.3% in all CCA (p < 0.001), 21.4% vs. 7% in iCCA (p < 0.001), 17.2% vs. 0% in pCCA (p < 0.001), and 23.1% vs. 0% in dCCA (p = 0.105), respectively. Positive resection margin was an independent prognostic factor for OS in pCCA and iCCA. Conclusion: Surgical resection is the only cure for CCA. Curative-intent resection is more effective than palliative resection in improving survival rates. When performing curative-intent resection, the goal is R0 resection. This is because it improves overall survival over R1 resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Resection margin status is the important prognostic factor in resected perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA). Although the impact of ductal margin (DM) was reported in many studies, the influence of radial margin (RM) is unclear. This study aims to investigate the effect of positive RM on survival. Methods: Patients with pCCA underwent curative resection between 2013 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Resection margin status was divided into negative resection margin (R0) and positive resection margin (R1); positive RM alone (RM+) and positive DM with or without positive RM (DM+). Results: Of the 167 pCCA patients, 62 (37.1%) had R1 margin. Among 62 R1 patients; 17 (27.4%) had positive DM alone, 20 (32.3%) had positive RM alone and 25 (40.3%) had both positive DM and RM. The R1 patients had a significantly greater number of lymph node metastasis (LNM) and advanced tumor staging than R0 patients, however there was no difference between the RM + and DM + patients. The median survival time of patients with RM + was significantly poorer than R0 patients (13.8 vs. 24.5 months; p < 0.001, respectively) and similar to the DM + patients (9.1 months, p = 0.556). However, in patients with LNM, those who underwent R0 resection had no statistically significant difference in survival outcomes compared to those with R1 resection. Conclusion: Positive resection margin remains the important prognostic factor, and positive RM is common in these patients. Positive RM also had a comparable effect on survival as positive DM. As a result, in pCCA, surgical resection should target both RM and DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]