Gallbladder cancer (gallbladder carcinoma) is a malignant tumor in the gallbladder. Gallbladder cancer is rare and only in advanced disease, the patients have complaints or get jaundice. By removing the gallbladder and chemo, one tries to treat the cancer. Here you can read all important information about gallbladder cancer.
Gallbladder cancer: frequency
Gallbladder cancer is rare. Every year about three out of every 100,000 people get sick. Most of them are over 70 years old. Overall, about four times more women are affected than men. This may be because women are more likely to suffer from gallstones. These are among the risk factors for gallbladder cancer.
The stones themselves are not the cause of gallbladder cancer. Rather, they cause a persistent inflammation of the gallbladder. This constant irritation can then result in a gallbladder tumor. Therefore, gallstones are found in about 80 percent of all patients with gallbladder cancer. The converse conclusion that with gallstones also a gallbladder carcinoma is found is not correct!
Other risk factors for the development of gallbladder cancer are gallbladder polyps that are over one centimeter in size. You can degenerate. In addition, Salmonella Dauerausscheider be endangered after a Salmonella disease to contract a gallbladder tumor.
Gallbladder Cancer: Symptoms and Diagnosis
As with gallbladder tumors, gallbladder cancer rarely has early symptoms. Only when the tumor has grown strongly, he makes complaints. Patients then notice upper abdominal pain, weight loss or jaundice (jaundice). Even itching and fatigue may occur. In addition, if the gallbladder cancer is well advanced, the doctor can often feel an enlarged gallbladder under the last right rib.
If your doctor suspects that you may be suffering from gall bladder cancer, he will ask you about your medical history (anamnesis). Above all, the question of gallstones is important in the past. Then he examines you physically, inter alia, scans your stomach and possibly an enlarged gallbladder feels.
After that, he takes blood from you, which is examined for changes in liver and gall levels. In addition, imaging techniques such as ultrasound examination of the abdomen or x-ray studies with contrast agent are performed to visualize the gallbladder and bile ducts.
With the help of this examination, your doctor will be able to differentiate a possible gallbladder carcinoma from other diseases such as stone suffering or gallbladder inflammation. Often, a gallbladder tumor is randomly detected during surgery, such as when the gall bladder is removed due to gallbladder stones.
Gallbladder cancer: therapy and prognosis
If gallbladder cancer is detected early, it may be sufficient to surgically remove only the gallbladder. In these rare cases, healing can be achieved by complete removal of the tumor. In all other cases the prognosis is bad.
Often, at the time of diagnosis, gallbladder cancer has progressed to the point where both the gallbladder and parts of the biliary tract and liver have to be removed. Often, radiotherapy or chemotherapy is then performed prior to surgery to reduce the size of the tumor so that it can be removed.
In many cases, this operation is no longer possible and a palliative therapy is performed. “Palliative” means that the patient can no longer be cured, but one tries to delay the course of the disease and alleviate the symptoms. at Gallbladder cancer For example, stents can be introduced into the biliary tract. These small tubes ensure that the bile can still drain.