Association between Metabolic Disorders and Cholangiocarcinoma: Impact of a Postulated Risk Factor with Rising Incidence

Resumen:
Simple Summary A potential relationship between cholangiocarcinoma and metabolic disorders has been suggested, but there is a lack of published data. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of metabolic disorders in a cohort of 122 patients with cholangiocarcinoma and report clinical outcomes. We found a prevalence of 42.6% of metabolic disorders. There was no significant difference in overall survival between patients with or without metabolic disorders, although there was a better survival in the subgroup of patients undergoing surgical resection. This indicates a need to better explore the association between cholangiocarcinoma in a metabolic background. Introduction and objectives: The incidence of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) has been increasing globally. Although a concomitant increase in the incidence of metabolic disorders might suggest a causal relationship, the data are scarce. We aimed to describe the prevalence of metabolic disorders in patients with CCA and report the clinical features and outcomes. Patients and Methods: Retrospective study including patients with CCA. Patients were divided into: (1) past history of diabetes or/and overweight/obesity (metabolic disorder group) and (2) without any of these features (non-metabolic-disorder group). A Cox regression model was used to determine the prognostic factors. Results: 122 patients were included. In total, 36 (29.5%) had overweight/obesity, 24 (19.7%) had diabetes, and 8 (6.6%) had both. A total of 29 (23.8%) patients had resectable disease and received upfront surgery. A total of 104 (85.2%) received chemotherapy for advanced/recurrent disease. The overall survival of the cohort was 14.3 months (95% CI: 10.1-17.3). ECOG-PS 0 (p < 0.0001), resectable disease (p = 0.018) and absence of vascular invasion (p = 0.048) were independently associated with better prognosis. The metabolic disorder group (n = 52) had a median survival of 15.5 months (95% CI 10.9-33.9) vs. 11.5 months (95% CI 8.4-16.5) in the non-metabolic-disorder group (n = 70) (HR: 1.10; 95% CI 0.62-1.94). Patients with resectable disease in the metabolic group had longer survival than patients in the non-metabolic group (43.4 months (95% CI 33.9-NR) vs. 21.8 months (95% CI 8.6-26.9); HR = 0.12, 95% CI 0.03-0.59). Conclusion: Metabolic disorders are frequent among CCA patients. Underlying metabolic comorbidities may be associated with prognosis in resectable CCA. There is a need to explore the mechanism that drives CCA carcinogenesis in a metabolic background.