Epidemiological trends of cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer in Northeastern Italy: Administrative analysis over a 17-year period (2007-2023)

BACKGROUND Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a heterogeneous group of aggressive malignancies arising from the biliary tree. Epidemiological data show an increase in the in cidence of intrahepatic CCA in Western countries and a stable or decrease in the incidence of extrahepatic CCA. There are conflicting results in literature regarding the trend of the incidence of gallbladder cancer. However, most studies refer to a time period before 2000. AIM To investigate the recent epidemiology of CCA and gallbladder cancer in Nor theast Italy using regional data of hospital admissions. METHODS We performed a 17-year (2007-2023) retrospective analysis of hospital discharge records of the Veneto Region. During the period 10778 first hospital admissions for biliary tract cancers in the main or secondary diagnosis were recorded. Data were analyzed by the χ2 test for categorical data and the Student’s t test for continuous data to assess differences in percentages and averages, respectively. Trends in the...