Chemotherapy-induced sclerosing cholangitis: long-term response to endoscopic therapy

Cholestatic liver disease: Practice guidelines from the Saudi Association for the Study of Liver diseases and Transplantation

Cholestatic liver diseases (CLDs) are a group of diseases characterized by jaundice and cholestasis as the main presentation with different complications, which have considerable impact on the liver and can lead to end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver-related complications. In the last few years, tremendous progress has been made in understanding the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with these conditions. However, several aspects related to the management of CLDs remain deficient and unclear. Due to the lack of recommendations that can help in the management, treatment of those conditions, the Saudi Association for the Study of Liver diseases and Transplantation (SASLT) has created a task force group to develop guidelines related to CLDs management in order to provide a standard of care for patients in need. These guidelines provide general guidance for health care professionals to optimize medical care for patients with CLDs for both adult and pediatric populations, in association with clinical judgments to be considered on a case-by-case basis. These guidelines describe common CLDs in Saudi Arabia, with recommendations on the best approach for diagnosis and management of different diseases based on the Grading of Recommendation Assessment (GRADE), combined with a level of evidence available in the literature.

Chemotherapy-Induced Sclerosing Cholangitis Caused by Systemic Chemotherapy

A 61-year-old woman diagnosed with cervical cancer received systemic chemotherapy using paclitaxel and bevacizumab. Marked elevation of liver enzyme levels was observed. Ultrasonography and computed tomography showed wall thickening of the extrahepatic and intrahepatic bile ducts accompanied by stricture and dilatation. According to these, she was diagnosed as chemotherapy-induced sclerosing cholangitis (CISC), a form of secondary sclerosing cholangitis. Although CISC triggered by systemic chemotherapy is rare, CISC should be considered as a clinically important adverse event of chemotherapy because it causes rapid deterioration of liver function and necessitates interruption of chemotherapy.

Percutaneous Biliary Interventions

Biliary drainage is important in the care of patients with benign and malignant biliary obstruction. Careful preprocedure evaluation of high-quality cross-sectional imaging and inventory of symptoms are necessary to determine whether a percutaneous, endoscopic, or surgical approach is most appropriate. High bile duct obstruction is usually best managed percutaneously; a specific duct can be targeted and enteric contamination of isolated ducts can be avoided. Options for percutaneous biliary intervention include external or internal/external biliary drainage, stent placement, biliary stone retrieval, and bile duct biopsy. Preprocedure evaluation, technique, and indications for percutaneous intervention in benign and malignant diseases are summarized.

Pathophysiology and Diseases of the Proximal Pathways of the Biliary System

CONTEXT

Diseases of the proximal pathways of the biliary system can be divided into those that affect the interlobular bile ducts and those that affect the bile canaliculi. The former include primary biliary cirrhosis, small-duct variant of primary sclerosing cholangitis, graft-versus-host disease, and drug-induced liver injury, whereas the latter include progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, and drug-induced liver injury.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the current state of knowledge of diseases of the proximal pathways of the biliary system, with special emphasis on clinical presentation, pathological features, and differential diagnosis.

DATA SOURCES

Clinicopathological information was extracted from pertinent published literature.

CONCLUSIONS

Care of the patient with cholestasis hinges on identifying the etiology. Diagnostic steps in cholestatic conditions comprise a thorough patient history, abdominal imaging, distinct serological studies, and liver biopsy. Primary biliary cirrhosis is characterized by distinctive serological and histological findings. The small-duct variant of primary sclerosing cholangitis is very rare and difficult to diagnose; imaging of the bile ducts is not helpful. Graft-versus-host disease is characterized by damage and loss of intrahepatic bile ducts. Drugs can cause injury variably at the level of bile canaliculus or the interlobular bile duct. Loss of bile ducts may be seen with primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, graft-versus-host disease, and drug-induced liver injury. Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis represent 2 extreme ends of the spectrum of abnormalities in transporters responsible for bile formation. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy has a variable incidence in different parts of the world and may be due to abnormalities in transporter molecules.

Histopathologic manifestations of drug-induced hepatotoxicity

Drug-induced hepatotoxicity is underrecognized but increasingly identified as causing acute and chronic liver disease. Several prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, dietary and/or supplementary agents, and herbal products are hepatotoxic. Drug-induced liver injury mimics other primary acute and chronic liver diseases and it should be considered in patients with hepatobiliary disease. Certain drugs result in specific histopathologic patterns of liver injury, which may help in sorting out the responsible drug. The diagnosis of drug-induced hepatotoxicity is challenging. It involves excluding other possible causes, careful medication history, the latent period between drug exposure and symptom onset and/or abnormal liver tests, and histopathologic findings.

Secondary Sclerosing Cholangitis due to Gallbladder Adenocarcinoma

Sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic cholestatic liver disease defined by both inflammatory and fibrotic changes of the biliary tract leading to diffuse stricture formation. This entity exists in both a primary and secondary form. Here we present a rare case of secondary sclerosing cholangitis due to direct metastasis from a gallbladder adenocarcinoma. A 55-year-old morbidly obese male presented electively with a 2-week history of low back pain and scleral icterus for 2 days. He also described severe epigastric pain that worsened postprandially and a 13 kg weight loss over the previous month. The patient denied any personal or familial history of malignancy or prior liver disease. Laboratory evaluation revealed mild elevation of transaminases with moderately elevated alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin. Imaging included ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showing multiple large gallstones and a large tissue density mass within the fundus of the gallbladder. Subsequent endoscopic ultrasound was performed revealing celiac and portal lymphadenopathy with fine needle aspirations demonstrating adenocarcinoma. Over the next 15 days, bilirubin progressively increased. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography was unremarkable. Liver biopsy, performed to exclude other etiologies of liver failure, demonstrated biliary cholestasis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was then performed and an occlusion cholangiogram revealed diffuse multifocal stricturing of the intrahepatic bile ducts and moderate stenosis of the common bile duct without proximal ductal dilatation. Thus secondary sclerosing cholangitis due to gallbladder adenocarcinoma was diagnosed.

Chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads complicated by intrahepatic biloma

Chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads is a type of locoregional therapy currently being used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic disease to the liver. This treatment has proven effectiveness in controlling tumor growth, extending survival time, and improving quality of life. Chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads have been shown to be safe, but like any other invasive procedure, can have associated complications. The authors present a case of intrahepatic biloma formation occurring as a result of treatment with drug-eluting beads.

Liver transplantation is possible in some patients with liver metastasis of colon cancer

Liver metastases from colorectal cancer are an absolute contraindication for liver transplantation. Aggressive therapy with liver resection and local chemotherapy in selected patients may be able to provide long-term cure. Given the risks of tumor recurrence, whether patients with post chemotherapy complications leading to liver failure should be offered transplantation is a challenging question in an era of limited organ availability. Herein we have presented 2 cases of liver transplantation performed in patients with colorectal cancer metastases treated with liver resection followed by hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy leading to development of sclerosing cholangitis and eventual liver failure. This report demonstrates that liver transplantation may be an option in selected patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases that have been well treated.

Benign biliary strictures: a current comprehensive clinical and imaging review

OBJECTIVE

There is a wide spectrum of nonneoplastic causes of biliary stricture that can pose a significant challenge to clinicians and radiologists. Imaging plays a key role in differentiating benign from malignant strictures, defining the extent, and directing the biopsy. We describe the salient clinical and imaging manifestations of benign biliary strictures that will help radiologists to accurately diagnose these entities.

CONCLUSION

Accurate diagnosis and management are based on correlating imaging findings with epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory data. Cross-sectional imaging modalities permit precise localization of the site and length of the segment involved, thereby serving as a road map to surgery, and permit exclusion of underlying malignancy.

Rescue chemotherapy using multidrug chronomodulated hepatic arterial infusion for patients with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

: Hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy delivers a high concentration of drugs both to liver metastases and to healthy liver with specific, limiting, hepatobiliary toxicities. Relevant detoxification and cellular proliferation pathways are controlled by the molecular circadian clock in normal liver but not in advanced tumors. In this article, the authors report their experience with chronomodulated HAI chemotherapy as rescue therapy in heavily pretreated patients who had metastatic colorectal cancer.

METHODS

: Data from all consecutive patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases who received HAI with chronomodulated, multidrug chemotherapy regimens in the authors' center after failure on standard chemotherapy were reviewed for efficacy and safety.

RESULTS

: Twenty-nine patients were treated, including 76% with liver metastasis only and 24% with liver and lung metastases. Seventy-five percent of patients had received > or =3 chemotherapy lines, including intravenous, chronomodulated chemotherapy in 59% of patients. Patients received a median of 4 HAI courses (range, 1-9 courses). The most frequent grade (according to National Cancer Institute of Canada Common Toxicity Criteria [version 3]) 3 and 4 nonhematologic toxicities were vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fatigue. No severe hematologic or hepatic toxicities and no chemical cholangitis were reported. An objective tumor response was observed in 10 patients (34.5%), including 4 patients who subsequently underwent R0 or R1 hepatic resection. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 4.5 months (95% confidence limits, 2.4-6.5 months) and 18 months (95% confidence limits, 5.8-30.2 months), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

: HAI chronomodulated chemotherapy had well tolerated activity in selected, heavily pretreated patients, and the authors believe it deserves to be assessed prospectively in clinical trials among patients who have less advanced disease. Cancer 2009. (c) 2009 American Cancer Society.

Mimics of cholangiocarcinoma: spectrum of disease

Cholangiocarcinoma is the second most common primary malignant hepatobiliary neoplasm, accounting for approximately 15% of liver cancers. Diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma is challenging and the prognosis is uniformly poor, with recurrence rates of 60%-90% after surgical resection. A wide spectrum of neoplastic and nonneoplastic conditions of the biliary tract may masquerade as cholangiocarcinoma, adding to the complexity of management in patients suspected to have cholangiocarcinoma. Mimics of cholangiocarcinoma constitute a heterogeneous group of entities that includes primary sclerosing cholangitis, recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome cholangiopathy, autoimmune pancreatitis, inflammatory pseudotumor, Mirizzi syndrome, xanthogranulomatous cholangitis, sarcoidosis, chemotherapy-induced sclerosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, metastases, melanoma, lymphoma, leukemia, and carcinoid tumors. These entities demonstrate characteristic histomorphology and variable clinicobiologic behaviors. The imaging findings of these disparate entities are protean and may be indistinguishable from those of cholangiocarcinoma. In most cases, a definitive diagnosis can be established only with histopathologic examination of a biopsy specimen.

Sclerosing cholangitis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by strictures of the biliary tree complicated by cirrhosis and cholangiocarcinoma. It is immune mediated, although the precise aetiology remains unknown.

RECENT FINDINGS

Research into etiopathogenesis and epidemiology, diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma, associations with inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune pancreatitis, and medical therapy are discussed.

SUMMARY

Multiple gene polymorphisms associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis have been investigated. Common inflammatory bowel disease-associated polymorphisms do not confer any susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis; the role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 gene polymorphisms and CCR5 mutations remain unclear. Elevated IgG4 has been demonstrated in a subgroup of primary sclerosing cholangitis patients, which may indicate an overlap with autoimmune pancreatitis and possible responsiveness to steroids. Biliary brush cytology may assist in diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma, although further clinical indicators are required. Animal studies suggest the superiority of 24-norursodeoxycholic acid over ursodeoxycholic acid in reducing histological disease progress; translational studies in humans are now required.