She said the musician's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died after being stricken with bile duct cancer.

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The findings help explain a puzzle: why the incidence of bile duct cancer is higher in people with hepatitis.

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Instead, some of the mice developed a tumor known as bile duct cancer.

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Manzarek, who had battled bile duct cancer for many years, died in a clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, with his wife and brothers at his bedside.

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Bile duct tumours are not very responsive to drug treatment or radiotherapy and people usually die within three to six months of diagnosis.

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Since laparoscopic gallbladder removal became the standard of care, the risk of tearing the bile duct which was the most common serious complication, has plummeted.

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Amaranth Cline, 70, in treatment for bile-duct cancer at Mount Sinai, says she learned of Image Share from the medical library there when she requested a copy of her scans.

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So we tried a temporary solution we had radiologists place a plastic drain, using X-ray guidance, through his abdominal wall and into the severed duct in order to draw the leaking bile out of him.

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