Treating your cholangiocarcinoma or gallbladder cancer will likely include more than one type of treatment and require the expertise of more than one type of cancer specialist. Roswell Park’s signature model of cancer care — a team of physicians, including surgical, radiation and medical oncologists, plus cancer-focused pathologists, gastroenterologists and other specialists, who focus on your particular cancer type — is essential with these biliary cancers.
Having all these specialists under one roof is about more than convenience; it’s critical to delivering the right treatments at the right time and in the right sequence. In some cases, treatments are delivered simultaneously, such as having chemotherapy and radiation treatment delivered together, a treatment called chemoradiation. The physicians of the biliary cancer team collaborate to determine the optimal treatment plan for you.
Your treatment for biliary cancer will likely involve one or more of the following treatment types:
- Surgery to remove the tumor and any affected tissues.
- Radiation Therapy to kill any remaining cancer cells after surgery, or to relieve pain.
- Medical Therapy, which includes chemotherapy and immunotherapy, uses drugs to attack cancer cells.
- Clinical Trials to access the very latest options for biliary cancers.