| Abstract: |
Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the most common biliary cancer with an annual incidence of about 6,000 patients in the USA. These patients may present to the surgical oncologist with abnormal findings on imaging such as a gallbladder polyp or a gallbladder and/or liver mass suspicious for GBC. Other common presentations are an incidental GBC suspected during cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis or found at pathologic review after cholecystectomy. Diagnosis and treatment are explained for the different presentations. A cholecystectomy with en bloc liver resection of segments 4b and 5 with lymph node dissection of the hepatoduodenal ligament is recommended for most medically fit patients with resectable GBC. After a potentially curative resection, the median survival and the 5-year survival rate for patients in the SEER database were 16 months and 21 %, respectively. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015. |
