What to Know About Other Possible Treatments for Bile Duct Cancer

Doctors are studying other possible treatments for bile duct cancer in clinical trials. Here are 4 currently being studied.

• Immunotherapy. This is a treatment that makes your immune system act to defend your body against the cancer.

• Biological therapy. These are drugs or monoclonal antibodies that block the pathways necessary for cancer cells to grow. When these pathways are blocked, cancer cells either stop growing or die.

• Photodynamic therapy. This treatment uses special light rays to activate a drug that kills cancer cells. It does not destroy the cancer completely. Doctors think it may be able to ease some of the symptoms and slow down the disease.

• Radiation sensitizers. This treatment uses drugs that make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy. Combining radiation therapy with these drugs may kill more tumor cells.