Research co-funding commitment inspires top cholangiocarcinoma research ideas

Last month the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG) and Pancare Foundation co-hosted an exceptional Ideas Generation Workshop to develop new research ideas for the rare and devastating bile duct cancer, cholangiocarcinoma.

In a riveting three-hour session, convened by Deputy Chair of the AGITG Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Working Party, Associate Professor Lara Lipton, and Pancare Medical Advisory Committee chair, Associate Professor Mehrdad Nikfarjam, seven new and innovative ideas were presented and discussed.

The aim of the workshop was to gather experts from around Australia to review and select an idea for development of a clinical trial that will improve outcomes and quality of life for people living with cholangiocarcinoma.

Driven by a shared desire to accelerate research and clinical trials to improve treatments and give much needed hope to Australians impacted by cholangiocarcinoma, Pancare and the AGITG have committed to co-funding a grant of up to $100,000 available for the selected research program emerging from the workshop.

The AGITG is a multidisciplinary collaborative group of medical and research professionals that conducts clinical trials and related biological research to improve treatments for GI cancers. Pancare is committed to funding cholangiocarcinoma research, and through a strong partnership with AGITG, delivering high-impact clinical trials.   

What is the biliary tract?

The biliary tract is part of the digestive system and includes the gallbladder and bile ducts. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped pouch in the upper abdomen that stores bile, which is made in the liver. Bile is a fluid that helps to digest food, and the gallbladder releases it when we eat.

Bile ducts are tubes that carry bile from the liver and gallbladder to the small intestine. The right and left hepatic ducts begin in the liver and join outside the liver to form the common hepatic duct. This then joins with the cystic duct (from the gallbladder) to form the common bile duct, which passes behind the pancreas and joins with the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater before opening into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine).

What is cholangiocarcinoma?

Cholangiocarcinoma, also called biliary tract cancer or bile duct cancer, is classified depending on which part of the bile duct the cancer develops in. It can occur in the bile ducts within the liver (intrahepatic), at the junction of the left and right hepatic ducts (hilar) or in the common bile duct outside the liver (extrahepatic).

Learn more about biliary cancer and associated symptoms and risk factors.