Gallbladder cancer is usually a fatal illness because early stages of this
carcinoma cause no specific signs or symptoms. Although the best chance of cure for
gallbladder cancer remains incidental discovery, radical resection of the gallbladder, with the adjacent liver, adherent structures, plus a regional
lymphadenectomy, has been suggested to improve survival. We retrospectively analyzed all patients with
gallbladder cancer who were treated surgically at Mayo Clinic (Rochester) between 1984 and 2000. There were 131 patients for whom complete survival information was available. Patients who underwent a radical
cholecystectomy had a significantly longer median survival (24 months) than patients who had a simple
cholecystectomy (6 months) or noncurative treatment (4 months) (P<0.0001). The radical
cholecystectomy group had significantly longer survival than the simple
cholecystectomy group for all American Joint Committee on
Cancer (AJCC) stages except stage I. Of the different variables tested in a univariate analysis (sex, surgical treatment modality, AJCC stage,
tumor grade,
jaundice,
hyperbilirubinemia, and adjuvant
therapy), all variables except sex,
tumor grade, and adjuvant
therapy were statistically significant predictors for the survival of patients with
gallbladder cancer. AJCC stage and surgical treatment modality were the only significant predictors in a multivariate analysis. Our results support radical surgical resection for the treatment of
gallbladder cancer to improve patient survival.