Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a malignant tumour that arises from biliary epithelium at any portion of the biliary tree. CCA is currently classified as intra-hepatic or extra-hepatic CCA (EH-CCA). Recent evidences suggest that intra-hepatic CCA (IH-CCA) and EH-CCA are biologically different cancers, giving further support to a number of recent epidemiological studies showing large differences in terms of incidence, mortality and risk factors. The purpose of this manuscript is to review recent literature dealing with the descriptive epidemiology and risk factors of CCA with a special effort to compare IH- with EH-CCA.
Keywords: Epidemiology; Extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma; Intra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma; Liver cirrhosis; Liver flukes; Liver stem cells; Peribiliary glands; Primary sclerosing cholangitis; Risk factors; Viral hepatitis.