This type of cancer is rare in the united states but much more common in southeast asia.
Vietnam vets and bile duct cancer.
Some veterans who served in vietnam thailand laos and cambodia have developed bile duct cancer.
Bile duct cancer is a cancer of the biliary duct system which includes the gallbladder bile ducts and certain cells inside the liver.
Veterans may have developed this cancer from exposure to liver flukes from eating raw or under cooked fish during their service.
Symptoms of bile duct cancer.
The department of veterans affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes ingested through raw or undercooked fish and a rare bile duct cancer.
Bile duct cancer also called cholangiocarcinoma is a rare cancer of the biliary duct system.
This disease often goes undetected for long periods of time as symptoms do not appear for nearly 30 40 years in most cases.
Veterans who ate raw or undercooked freshwater fish during their service in southeast asia such as vietnam war veterans might have been infected.
However currently va is not aware of any studies that show that bile duct cancer occurs more often in u s.
Vietnam war veterans than in other groups of people.