What Are the Most Common Gallbladder Cancer Symptoms?

Gallbladder cancer takes the first place in gallbladder malignancies. Others include sarcomas, carcinoids, primary malignant melanomas, and giant cell adenocarcinomas. Primary gallbladder cancer is relatively rare in clinical practice, and according to domestic reports, it accounts for only about 1% of all cancers.

Basic Information

English name

carcinoma of gallbladder

Visiting department

Surgery, Gastroenterology, Oncology

Multiple groups

70-79 years old women

Common causes

Chronic stimulation of stones is an important causative factor

Common symptoms

Pain, indigestion, jaundice, fever, mass, etc.

Contagious

no

Causes of Gallbladder Cancer

Gallbladder cancer often coexists with benign gallbladder disorders, most commonly coexisting with gallstones. Chronic stimulation of stones is an important causative factor.

Clinical manifestations of gallbladder cancer

Right upper quadrant pain

Because gallbladder cancer coexists with inflammation of the gallbladder stones, the pain is similar to that of calculus cholecystitis. Onset of discomfort in the right upper abdomen followed by persistent dull or dull pain, sometimes with paroxysmal pain and radiation to the right shoulder.

2. Indigestion

Indigestion, greasiness, belching, and poor appetite. This is due to insufficient gallbladder function to digest fatty substances.

3. Jaundice

Jaundice often occurs late in the course of the disease. Cancer tissue invades the bile ducts and causes jaundice. At the same time accompanied by weight loss, fatigue and even cachexia, yellow staining of the skin and mucous membranes, and itching of the skin.

4. Fever

Some patients developed fever.

5. Right upper abdominal mass

A mass appears in the right upper or upper abdomen. It is because the tumor rapidly grows and blocks the bile ducts to make the gallbladder swollen; if it invades the duodenum, it can also cause obstruction; in addition, tumor invasion and liver, stomach, and pancreas can also appear in the corresponding site.

Gallbladder cancer test

1.B ultrasound

The B-ultrasound is simple and non-invasive, and can be used repeatedly. It is the first choice. Scanning the gallbladder only through the stomach or duodenal wall with a high-frequency probe for endoscopic ultrasound significantly increases the detection rate of gallbladder cancer, and can further determine the extent of gallbladder wall structure affected by tumor infiltration.

2.CT scan

There are three types of CT scans of gallbladder cancer:

(1) Wall-thickness Gallbladder wall is limited or diffusely thickened;

(2) Nodular papillary nodules from the gallbladder wall into the gallbladder cavity;

(3) consolidation type The gallbladder wall is extensively infiltrated and thickened by the tumor, and the lumen cancer mass is filled to form a substantial mass. If the tumor invades the liver or hilar and pancreatic head lymph nodes, it can be shown on CT

3. Color Doppler flow imaging

Gallbladder masses and abnormal high-velocity arterial blood flow signals detected in the wall are important features that distinguish primary gallbladder tumors from gallbladder metastatic cancer or benign gallbladder masses

4.ERCP

The diagnosis rate of gallbladder cancer that can show gallbladder by ERCP can reach 73% -90%. However, more than half of the ERCP tests did not reveal the gallbladder.

5. Cytological examination

(1) Cytological examination Biopsy or bile can be taken directly to find cancer cells. The positive rate of cytological examination is not high, but combined with imaging examination can still diagnose more than half of patients with gallbladder cancer.

(2) Tumor markers The CEA positive rate of gallbladder cancer in CEA immunohistochemical studies of tumor specimens was 100%. The serum CEA value of patients with advanced gallbladder cancer can reach 9.6ng / ml, but it is not valuable in early diagnosis. CA19-9, CA125, CA15-3 and other tumor sugar chain antigens can only be used as auxiliary examination of gallbladder cancer.

Gallbladder Cancer Treatment

Radical surgery is the first definitive method for the treatment of gallbladder cancer, and it is the only method that can cure gallbladder cancer. For patients with gallbladder cancer who cannot undergo radical resection or who cannot tolerate surgery, palliative treatment is often adopted to relieve symptoms caused by gallbladder and intrabiliary tract infections, improve liver function, and improve the quality of life of patients.

Surgery

Depending on the stage at which the tumor is found, different surgical methods are selected. Early stage gallbladder cancer, with no metastasis to the lymph nodes or other parts, undergo cholecystectomy and surgically remove the gallbladder. In the middle stage of gallbladder cancer, the scope of resection should be expanded. In addition to resection of the gallbladder, some liver and hepatoduodenal ligament lymph nodes must be removed, that is, radical resection of gallbladder cancer. In advanced gallbladder cancer, if the assessment of the patient's physical condition allows, expanded radical surgery of gallbladder cancer is feasible, with a wider range of resection, greater trauma, and a higher probability of complications.

2. chemotherapy

There is currently no universally accepted chemotherapy regimen for gallbladder cancer. Studies have confirmed that adjuvant chemotherapy after radical gallbladder cancer surgery is beneficial to improve survival.

3. Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy for gallbladder cancer includes preoperative, intraoperative, intracavitary radiotherapy, and palliative radiotherapy without surgery. Radiotherapy is suitable for patients with gallbladder cancer with earlier stage but with lymph node metastasis.

4. Interventional Therapy

Patients with gallbladder cancer who have extensive metastasis and have lost the opportunity for surgery can have biliary drainage to improve symptoms and improve quality of life.