Die ERC ist der diagnostisch Goldstandard bei Patienten mit Klatskintumor und kann auch zur palliativen Stenttherapie eingesetzt werden. Wir konnten die Morbidität und Mortalität der post-ERC-Cholangitis bei Patienten mit Klatskintumor deutlich reduzieren, in dem wir nach MRCP-gestützter Bestimmung des Drainageziels nur eine unilaterale Kontrastierung und Stenteinlage durchführten. Die DNA-Zytometrie war der beste Prognosefaktore für das postoperative Überleben von resezierten Patienten mit Klatskintumor. Im Gegensatz zu diploiden und polyploiden Klatskintumoren hatten Patienten mit aneuploiden Tumoren trotz kurativer Resektion eine sehr schlechte Prognose infolge früher Mikrometastasierung. Bei einigen Patienten mit Klatskintumor liegt eine Billroth II-Gastro-Jejunostomie vor. Trotz der erschwerten Endokoppassage gelang es uns meistens, sowohl die Majorpapille zu erreichen, als auch trotz der inversen Endoskopposition eine sichere Papillotomie durchzuführen. Die perkutane Drainagetherapie mittels PTCD ist eine wertvolle Alternative zur transpapillären Stenttherapie. Als kurative Therapie bei nicht-resezierbaren Cholangiokarzinomen werden Lebertransplantationen durchgeführt. Damit assoziierte biliäre Komplikationen konnten bei uns in den meisten Fällen erfolgreich durch endoskopische Therapie behandelt werden. / ERC is considered as the diagnostic gold standard for patients with Klatskin tumor and can be also used for palliative stenting. We could reduce morbidity as well as mortality due to post-ERC-cholangitis performing MRCP-guided identification of the drainage target and subsequently unilateral contrasting and stenting. DNA-cytomtery was the best prognostic factor predicting the postoperative survival propability of patients with cholangiocarinoma. In contrast to patients resected due to diploid or polyploid Klatskin tumors patients with aneuploid tumors suffered from a bad prognosis due to early micrometastasis. Some patients afflicted from Klatskin tumors have a Billroth II gastro-jejunostomy. In spite of the more difficult endoscopic passage we were mostly able to advance the endoscope to the major papille and to perform a save papillotomy. The percutaneous drainage therapy by means of PTCD is an important alternative to transpapillary stenting. Liver transplantation is performed to cure patients with unresectable Klatskin tumor. Biliary complications which occur after transplantations can be successfully treated in most cases by means of endoscopic therapy.

Objectives: In our study, we evaluated and compared the prognostic value and performance of the 6th, 7th, and 8th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system in patients undergoing surgery for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC). Methods: Patients undergoing liver surgery with curative intention for PHC between 2002 and 2019 were identified from a prospective database. Histopathological parameters and stage of the PHC were assessed according to the 6th, 7th, and 8th editions of the tumor node metastasis (TNM) classification. The prognostic accuracy between staging systems was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) model. Results: Data for a total of 95 patients undergoing liver resection for PHC were analyzed. The median overall survival time was 21 months (95% CI 8.1–33.9), and the three- and five-year survival rates were 46.1% and 36.2%, respectively. Staging according to the 8th edition vs. the 7th edition resulted in the reclassification of 25 patients (26.3%). The log-rank p-values for the 7th and 8th editions were highly statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) compared to the 6th edition (p = 0.035). The AJCC 8th edition staging system showed a trend to better discrimination, with an AUC of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.52–0.84) compared to 0.61 (95% CI: 0.51–0.73) for the 7th edition. Multivariate survival analysis revealed male gender, age >65 years, positive resection margins, presence of distant metastases, poorly tumor differentiation, and lymph node involvement, such as no caudate lobe resection, as independent predictors of poor survival (p < 0.05). Conclusions: In the current study, the newly released 8th edition of AJCC staging system showed no significant benefit compared to the previous 7th edition in predicting the prognosis of patients undergoing liver resection for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma. Further research may help to improve the prognostic value of the AJCC staging system for PHC—for instance, by identifying new prognostic markers or staging criteria, which may improve that individual patient’s outcome.