Stages and grades of bile duct cancer

The stage of bile duct cancer tells you about the size of the tumour and whether it has spread. The grade tells you how abnormal the cells look under the microscope. Your doctor uses this information to help them decide on what treatment you need.

There are different ways of staging bile duct cancer. Doctors usually use the number staging system and the TNM system. They may also use the Bismuth-Corlette staging system to stage a type of bile duct cancer called perihilar.