Vietnam Vets With Bile Duct Cancer

Liver flukes parasites that infect a human when raw or undercooked fish is eaten are being investigated as the cause of a rare bile duct cancer among veterans who served in the vietnam war.

Vietnam vets with bile duct cancer. Va disability benefits for cholangiocarcinoma. This type of cancer is rare in the united states but much more common in southeast asia. According to its website va is not currently aware of any studies that show bile duct cancer occurs more often in vietnam veterans than in other groups of people. Some veterans who served in vietnam thailand laos and cambodia have developed bile duct cancer.

Parasites in raw or poorly cooked river fish. Vietnam vets seek help for rare bile duct cancer that may be linked to their time in service and eating parasite riddled river fish mike baughman 64 is among hundreds of veterans. The worms infect an estimated 25 million people mostly in asia but are less known in america. Veterans may have developed this cancer from exposure to liver flukes from eating raw or under cooked fish during their service.

Vietnam veterans across the country have now been warned that they might be at risk for a rare bile duct cancer after a recent department of veterans affairs va study found that hundreds of individuals who served in the vietnam war may have been unknowingly infected by a carcinogenic parasite while in southeast asia the associated press reports.