What are the early symptoms of bile duct tumor?

In many cases in life, the more we ignore a problem, the more likely it is to occur. In recent years, the incidence of bile duct tumors has been on the rise, so we must pay attention to it. So what are the general symptoms of bile duct tumors?

1. Abdominal pain. About half of the patients have symptoms such as right upper abdominal pain, bloating or discomfort, weight loss, and loss of appetite, which are often regarded as early warning symptoms of bile duct cancer. At the beginning, the abdominal pain is similar to cholelithiasis and cholecystitis. According to clinical observations, abdominal pain and jaundice can occur only 3 months after the onset of bile duct cancer.

2. Jaundice. Most patients seek medical attention due to jaundice. Jaundice is the earliest and most important symptom of bile duct cancer. About 90%-98% of bile duct cancer patients have varying degrees of skin and sclera yellowing. The characteristic of jaundice is that it is progressive and deepens, and is mostly painless. A small number of patients have fluctuating jaundice. Jaundice appears earlier in upper bile duct cancer, while jaundice in middle and lower bile duct cancer may appear later due to the buffering effect of the gallbladder.

3. Skin itching. It may occur before or after the onset of jaundice, and may also be accompanied by other symptoms such as tachycardia, bleeding tendency, mental depression, fatigue, fatty diarrhea, abdominal distension, etc. Skin itching is caused by the increase of bilirubin content in the blood, which stimulates the peripheral nerves of the skin.

4. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weight loss, dark yellow urine, like soy sauce or thick tea, light yellow or even clay-colored stools, etc. In the late stage when the tumor ruptures, there may be black stools and positive stool occult blood tests when the gallbladder bleeds, and even anemia; when there is liver metastasis, there may be signs of liver enlargement and cirrhosis.

5. Liver enlargement and cirrhosis. In the late stage of cholangiocarcinoma, it is easy to spread and metastasize to other places. When liver metastasis occurs, symptoms such as liver enlargement, cirrhosis and portal hypertension may occur.