Boston researchers make progress treating rare, aggressive cancer [Video]

Dave Fleischer never intended to become an activist. All that changed when his daughter got sick with a rare and aggressive cancer at just 30 years old. “She had a pain in her lower back and thought it maybe was a gallbladder issue,” he said. “My wife said, ‘You probably ought to go to the emergency room and get it checked out.’ Next thing, they find a mass.”That mass was diagnosed as cholangiocarcinoma or bile duct cancer. It starts in the thin tubes that connect your liver, gallbladder and small intestine — and spreads fast. Symptoms include jaundice, belly pain, dark urine and unexplained weight loss, which can often be mistaken for other illnesses. All of this makes it hard to treat and even harder to stop. “Within a month, she was in surgery for a liver resection followed by all the regimens of chemo,” Fleischer remembers. The young mom …