{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T14:06:46Z","timestamp":1788271606608,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]],"date-time":"2025-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756684800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive malignancy with very poor survival. Prior research suggests rural\u2013urban disparities on a regional scale. We aimed to elucidate these disparities in treatment and disease-specific survival (DSS) for ICC patients on a national scale using the SEER database. Methods: The SEER database was queried to identify biopsy-confirmed cases of ICC from 2000 to 2021. Differences in clinicopathologic features and treatment between rural and urban patients were assessed using Chi-square and Fischer\u2019s exact tests. Disease-specific survival was compared using Kaplan\u2013Meier and log-rank tests as well as multivariable Cox regressions. Results: A total of 14,940 ICC patients were identified. Rural patients were less likely than urban patients to receive chemotherapy (789 of 1588 [49.7%] vs. 7112 of 13,352 [53.3%], p = 0.006) and surgical treatment (305 of 1588 [19.2%] vs. 2922 of 13,352 [21.9%], p = 0.013). Rural patients experienced reduced 5- and 10-year DSS rates (7.0% and 4.0%) compared to urban patients (9.0% and 6.0%, p &lt; 0.001). In multivariable analysis, rural residence independently demonstrated a 17% increased risk of disease-specific mortality compared to their urban counterparts (aHR 1.17, 95% CI 1.03\u20131.32). Conclusions: This study demonstrates significant rural\u2013urban disparities in ICC treatment and survival throughout the US, independent of other prognostic factors. Further investigation into factors driving these disparities is warranted to improve outcomes for rural ICC patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medsci13030158","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]],"date-time":"2025-09-01T08:28:15Z","timestamp":1756715295000},"page":"158","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Rural\u2013Urban Disparities in Treatment and Disease-Specific Survival for Patients with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of the 2000 to 2021 SEER Database"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Odelia H.","family":"Moon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mitchell A.","family":"Taylor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Omar","family":"Hamadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60657, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aditya","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hematology and Oncology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH 03755, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Silberstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68124, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wasilewicz, M.P., and Becht, R. 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Pract."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100377","DOI":"10.1016\/j.esmoop.2021.100377","article-title":"Setup of multidisciplinary team discussions for patients with cholangiocarcinoma: Current practice and recommendations from the European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENS-CCA)","volume":"7","author":"Casadio","year":"2022","journal-title":"ESMO Open"}],"container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3271\/13\/3\/158\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:36:49Z","timestamp":1760035009000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3271\/13\/3\/158"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]}},"alternative-id":["medsci13030158"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/medsci13030158","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3271"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-3271","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,1]]}}}