Detection of serum MMP-7 and MMP-9 in cholangiocarcinoma patients: evaluation of diagnostic accuracy.

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive tumor with a tendency for local invasion and distant metastases. Timely diagnosis is very important because surgical resection (R0) remains the only hope for a cure. However, at present, there is no available tumor marker that can differentiate cholangiocarcinoma from benign bile duct disease.