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Bile, required for the digestion of food, is excreted by the liver into passages that carry bile toward the hepatic duct , which joins with the cystic duct (carrying bile to and from the gallbladder) to form the common bile duct, which opens into the intestine.

The top half of the common bile duct is associated with the liver, while the bottom half of the common bile duct is associated with the pancreas, through which it passes on its way to the intestine. It opens in the part of the intestine called the duodenum into a structure called the ampulla of Vater.

Blockage of the bile duct by a cancer or scarring from injury prevents the bile from being transported to the intestine and the bile accumulates in the blood. This condition is called jaundice and the skin and eyes become yellow from the accumulated bile in the blood. This condition also causes severe itchiness.

Jaundice is commonly caused by conditions such as pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer (or adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, also called pancreatica is the growth of a malignant tumour within the pancreas. Each year about 29,000 individuals in the United States alone are diagnosed with the disease (more than 60,000 in Europe caused by blockage of the bile duct passing through the cancerous portion of the pancreas, cholangiocarcinomaCholangiocarcinoma is an adenocarcinoma of the biliary duct system. It is usually associated with environmental exposures such as polyvinyl chloride or Thorotrast ( thorium dioxide). Other related Items Bilirubin Liver function tests Primary sclerosing ch, blockage by a stone in patients with gallstoneIn medicine, gallstones are crystalline bodies formed within the body by accretion or concretion of normal or abnormal bile components. Cholesterol stones are usually white or yellow in color and account for about 80 percent of gallstones. They are made ps and from scarring after injury to the bile duct during gallbladder removal.