Cancer of the gallbladder – own experience

Gallbladder cancer is a relatively rare cancer of the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly detected (approximately 95% of cases) in the most advanced clinical stage IV and burdened with high mortality rate. This is mainly due to the nonspecific symptoms in the early stages of the disease. The remaining cases of gallbladder cancer are usually detected after surgery due to gallstone disease. Gallstones, their size and pancreatic juice reflux into the gallbladder are risk factors in the development of gallbladder cancer. In this paper the authors carried out a retrospective research based on an evaluation of a group of 38 patients treated surgically due to the gallbladder cancer in the years 2005-2012 in the Second Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery in Białystok Medical University Hospital. In this group there were 29 women and 9 men, in age between 48-86 years. Although women suffered from gallbladder cancer more often than men, their survival rate was significantly better after the surgery. The research showed some benefits of extended surgical procedures even in patients with advanced stages of the disease, while the effectiveness of surgical treatment depends mainly on the possibility of radical resection of the primary lesion and, eventually, the resection of lymph nodes and other infiltrated tissues.