Introduction: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive cancer arising from any part of the biliary system. Effective treatment of CCA remains limited, resulting in the poor overall prognosis of patients. The effective prognostic biomarkers for CCA remain lacking, and most are at the research level.
Areas covered: The incidences of CCAs, classification, genetic and molecular characteristics, and distinct clinical outcomes in each subtype are introduced. The prognostic markers currently used in clinical practice are reviewed. Studies of biomarkers in defining the aggressiveness of CCA, identifying patients with a potential tumor recurrence, and predicting the survival time, are reviewed. Emerging biomarkers discovered from advanced high throughput technology over the past 5 years are updated and summarized. Finally, in-depth and critical revision on the prognostic biomarkers for CCA reported from various sources of specimens, e.g. tissues, blood, bile, etc. are discussed. Conclusion: Many prognostic biomarkers for CCA have been proposed and hold promising clinical value. However, these markers are rarely used in the real clinical world due to several factors. Understanding the roles and importance of these prognostic markers may fundamentally impact the therapeutic management of CCA, and hopefully, improve the development of custom and patient-directed therapies for CCA.
Keywords: Biliary tract cancer; Biomarker; Cholangiocarcinoma; Prognosis; Survival.