When bile duct cancer cells were placed in the liver of animals with bile duct obstruction, they grew more rapidly than identical cells placed in animals without bile duct obstruction. In fact, half of the total liver mass of the rats with bile duct obstruction became replaced by cancer cells within three weeks compared to only 16 percent of that of animals without bile duct obstruction. Perhaps even more important, the cancers metastized outside the liver (as they frequently do in human patients with advanced bile duct cancer) only in the animals with bile duct obstruction.>>> Discuss This Story
