Transcriptomic and histopathological analysis of cholangiolocellular differentiation trait in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Background & Aims Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a heterogeneous entity with diverse aetiologies, morphologies and clinical outcomes. Recently, histopathological distinction of cholangiolocellular differentiation (CD) of iCCA has been suggested. However, its genome‐wide molecular features and clinical significance remain unclear. Methods Based on CD status, we stratified iCCAs into iCCA with CD (n=20) and iCCA without CD (n=102), and performed an integrative analysis using transcriptomic and clinicopathological profiles. Results iCCA with CD revealed less aggressive histopathological features compared to iCCA without CD, and iCCA with CD showed favourable clinical outcomes of overall survival and time to recurrence than iCCA without CD (P