Surgical therapy of proximal extrahepatic bile duct tumors (Klatskin tumors)

Due to their anatomical position, the tendency of early infiltrative growth and their poor prognosis without treatment, klatskin tumors are challenging concerning diagnosis and therapy. In contrast to other tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, for which exact diagnostic and stage dependent therapeutic guidelines could be formulated, clear recommendations for klatskin tumors are missing. Thus, survival rates after local resection, e. g. resection of the bile duct bifurcation alone, show high rates of R1/2 resection and early tumor recurrence. With an additional hepatic resection formally curative resections and long-term survival can be improved. Extended liver resections including the portal vein provide the highest rates of R0 resections for hilar carcinomas of the extrahepatic bile duct. Survival rates after liver transplantation for klatskin tumors are not yet convincing. Promising first results have been reported for the combination of neoadjuvant treatment and liver transplantation and might show future perspectives for the treatment of klatskin tumors.