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Gallbladder cancer.
Am J Surg. 2008 Aug;196(2):252-64
Authors: Gourgiotis S, Kocher HM, Solaini L, Yarollahi A, Tsiambas E, Salemis NS
BACKGROUND: Gallbladder cancer (GC) is a relatively rare but highly lethal neoplasm. We review the epidemiology, etiology, pathology, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, treatment, and prognosis of GC. METHOD: A Pubmed database search between 1971 and February 2007 was performed. All abstracts were reviewed and articles with GC obtained; further references were extracted by hand-searching the bibliography. The database search was done in the English language. RESULTS: The accurate etiology of GC remains unclear, while the symptoms associated with primary GC are not specific. Treatment with radical cholecystectomy is curative but possible in only 10% to 30% of patients. For patients whose cancer is an incidental finding on pathologic review, re-resection is indicated, where feasible, for all disease except T1a. Patients with advanced disease should receive palliative treatment. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is contraindicated in the presence of GC. CONCLUSION: Prognosis generally is extremely poor. Improvements in the outcome of surgical resection have caused this approach to be re-evaluated, while the role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy remains controversial.
PMID: 18466866 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]