Context: Bile duct cancer (BDC) is a disease with a very grave prognosis, often diagnosed too late.
Objective: The aim of this review is to evaluate available literature on tumor markers in serum from patients with BDC.
Methods: Using the search words "serum markers", "bile duct cancer", "cholangiocarcinoma", "biomarker" and "tumor marker", a search was carried out.
Results: Seventy-five studies were included in the review.
Conclusion: CA19-9 is by far the most studied and most promising diagnostic and/or prognostic marker in BDC. But also the different mucins are interesting as new markers of BDC in serum.
Keywords: Bile duct cancer; biomarker; cholangiocarcinoma; diagnosis; prognosis; serum.