Description

Gallbladder cancer is a growth of cells that begins in the gallbladder.

The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped organ on the right side of the abdomen just below the liver. The gallbladder stores a liquid called bile that the liver makes to digest food.

Gallbladder cancer is not common. The probability of cure is good when gallbladder cancer is found when it is small. But most gallbladder cancers are found when they have grown beyond the gallbladder. Then, the chance of surviving, called prognosis is often poor.

Gallbladder cancer may not be found until it is advanced because it may not cause symptoms. When they occur, the symptoms may be like those of the more common conditions. Also, the gallbladder is hidden in the interior of the body. This makes it easier for gallbladder cancer to grow without being discovered.

Symptoms

Gallbladder cancer may have no symptoms. When there are signs and symptoms, which may include:

  • Pain in the belly, especially in the upper right part of the abdomen.
  • Belly distension.
  • A mass can be felt through the skin.
  • Losing weight without trying.
  • Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, called jaundice. Yellow discoloration of the skin may be more difficult to view in Black or brown the skin. The jaundice usually occurs when the gallbladder cancer is very advanced.

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with a health care professional if you have symptoms that concern you.

Causes

It is not clear what causes cancer of the gallbladder.

Health professionals know that gallbladder cancer begins when healthy gallbladder cells develop changes in their DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell the cell what to do. In healthy cells, the DNA contains the instructions to grow and multiply at a set rate. The instructions that tell cells to die at a set time.

In cancer cells, changes in DNA to give different instructions. The changes, to tell the cancer cells to make many more cells quickly. Cancer cells can continue living when healthy cells would die. This makes too many cells.

The cancer cells may form a mass called a tumor. The tumor can grow to invade and destroy healthy body tissue. At the time, cancer cells can break off and spread to other parts of the body. When cancer spreads, it is called metastatic cancer.

The majority of gallbladder cancer begins in the glandular cells that line the inner surface of the gallbladder. Gallbladder cancer, which starts in this type of cells is called adenocarcinoma. This term refers to the way in which the cancer cells appear when viewed under a microscope.

Risk factors

Factors that may increase the risk of gallbladder cancer include:

  • The female sex. Gallbladder cancer is much more common in women than in men. The experts believe that it may be related to the hormone estrogen, which increases the risk of gallstones. The people who are assigned female at birth more often have higher levels of estrogen in your body that the people who are assigned male at birth.
  • The increase of the age. Your risk of gallbladder cancer increases with age. It is most common after age 65. But it can occur in children.
  • A history of gallstone formation. Gallbladder cancer is more common in people who have gallstones or have had gallstones in the past. Bigger, gallstones may lead to a greater risk. Gallstones are common. But even in people with gallstones, gallbladder cancer is rare.
  • Other terms and conditions of the gallbladder. Other terms and conditions of the gall bladder, which can increase the risk of gallbladder cancer include polyps, infections, and inflammation and irritation, the flame of chronic inflammation.
  • The inflammation of the bile ducts. Primary sclerosing cholangitis causes inflammation of the ducts that drain bile from the gallbladder and the liver. This condition increases the risk of gallbladder cancer.

Health professionals have not found ways to prevent cancer of the gallbladder.

Diagnosis

The gallbladder of a diagnosis of cancer may begin with a discussion about your symptoms. A healthcare provider may use blood tests to understand how their bodies work and imaging tests to look for signs of cancer in the gallbladder.

Blood tests

Blood tests to check how your liver is working can help your health care professional to find out what is causing your symptoms.

Imaging tests

Imaging tests that can be used to take images of the gallbladder include ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Find the measure of gallbladder cancer

Once your health professional diagnosed the cancer of the gallbladder, the next step is to find the extent of the cancer. This is called staging. Your gallbladder stage of the cancer helps to display your prognosis and treatment options.

Tests and procedures used for the stage of gallbladder cancer include:

  • Tests to look for in the ducts biliares.Su health care professional may suggest procedures for making a dye into the bile ducts. A test image, then the records in which the dye was going. These tests can show if the bile ducts are blocked. These tests may include magnetic resonance cholangiography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
  • Other imaging tests. Most people with gallbladder cancer have a series of analyses to help you see if the cancer has spread. Common includes CT-scan and magnetic resonance imaging of the area of the belly and the chest.
  • The exploratory surgery.If the surgery is a treatment option for you, your health care professional may first recommend the surgery to see the inside of your abdomen to see if the gallbladder cancer has spread. In a procedure called a laparoscopy, the surgeon makes a small incision called an incision in the abdomen and put into a tiny camera. The camera allows the surgeon to check organs around your gall bladder for signs that the cancer has spread.

Tests to look at the bile ducts. Your health care professional may suggest procedures for making a dye into the bile ducts. A test image, then the records in which the dye was going. These tests can show if the bile ducts are blocked.

These tests may include magnetic resonance cholangiography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

The exploratory surgery. If the surgery is a treatment option for you, your health care professional may first recommend the surgery to see the inside of your abdomen to see if the gallbladder cancer has spread.

In a procedure called a laparoscopy, the surgeon makes a small incision called an incision in the abdomen and put into a tiny camera. The camera allows the surgeon to check organs around your gall bladder for signs that the cancer has spread.

Your health care team uses these procedures to give your cancer a stage. The stages of gallbladder cancer in the range of 0 to 4. A lower number usually means the cancer is small and likely to be cured.

Stage 1 gallbladder cancer means that the cancer is only in the gallbladder. As the cancer grows and grows beyond the gallbladder, of the stages of the climb. A stage 4 gallbladder cancer means that the cancer has grown through the gallbladder and into nearby organs. Stage 4 can also mean that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Treatment

The treatment for gallbladder cancer often requires surgery. If the cancer grows in the nearby organs, surgery may not be possible. The treatment can begin with the radiation therapy, or medications, such as chemotherapy, in his place. What the gallbladder cancer treatments are best for you will depend on the stage of your cancer, your health and what you prefer.

Surgery

The surgery is used to treat gallbladder cancer that has not spread beyond the gallbladder. The types of surgery include:

  • The surgery to remove the gallbladder. Early gallbladder cancer has not grown beyond the gallbladder is an operation to remove the gallbladder. This operation is called cholecystectomy.
  • The surgery to remove the gallbladder and the liver. Gallbladder cancer that grows beyond the gallbladder and the liver is sometimes treated with surgery to remove the gallbladder, as well as parts of the liver and bile ducts surrounding the gallbladder.

If the cancer of the gallbladder is small and all of this can be removed with laparoscopic cholecystectomy, you may not need other treatments.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy treats the cancer with strong medications. The majority of chemotherapy drugs are given through a vein. Some come in the form of a pill.

Your health care professional may suggest chemotherapy after surgery if there is a risk that some of the cells of gallbladder cancer could stay. Sometimes, the health care professionals to administer chemotherapy before surgery. It can also be used to control the cancer when surgery is not possible.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy treats cancer with powerful rays of energy. The energy can come from X-rays, protons or other sources.

Radiation therapy is sometimes used with chemotherapy after surgery for gallbladder cancer if all the cancer could not be removed. Radiation therapy also can control the cancer of the gallbladder that causes pain and jaundice when surgery is not possible.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy for cancer is a treatment that uses drugs that attack certain chemicals in the cancer cells. By blocking these chemicals, specific treatments can cause cancer cells to die.

Targeted therapy drugs are used only in the people that the cancer cells have certain changes that can be targeted. The cancer cells can be tested to see if targeted therapy is likely to help you.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy for cancer is a treatment with a medication that helps the body's immune system destroys the cancer cells. The immune system fights diseases by attacking the germs and other cells that should not be in the body. Cancer cells survive by hiding from the immune system. Immunotherapy helps the immune system find and kill cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is typically used for cancers of the gallbladder that grow very large or spread to other parts of the body.

Coping and support

Learn how to deal with a life-threatening illness, such as cancer of the gallbladder, is going to take time. Some ideas to learn how to deal with gallbladder cancer include:

Ask questions about gallbladder cancer

Write down questions you have about your cancer. Ask these questions at your next appointment. Also ask your health care team for a good sources where you can get more information.

To know more about your gallbladder cancer and your treatment options can help you make decisions about your care.

Stay close to your friends and family

Your cancer diagnosis can be stressful for friends and family also. Try to keep your involvement in your life.

Your friends and family will probably ask if there is anything I can do to help you. Think about the tasks that you would like to help, such as taking care of your house if you have to stay in the hospital or simply being there when they want to talk about.

You can find comfort in the support of a group that cares for your family and friends.

Find someone to talk to

Find someone to talk to and with whom he has worked with people facing a life-threatening illness. See a counselor, medical social worker, or a member of the clergy. You may also want to join a support group for people with cancer. Ask your health care team to connect to these resources.

Write down your wishes for medical care

Take steps to ensure that your wishes are known and carried out. Ask your health care team about advance directives. Advance directives allow you to say what types of treatment you want if you can't speak about your desires.

Also, ask about the names of a power of attorney for health care. This is the person you choose to make your choice for you if you can't do yourself.

Preparing for your appointment

Start by making an appointment with a health care professional if you have symptoms that concern you.

If your healthcare provider thinks you might have cancer of the gallbladder, you may be sent to a specialist, such as, for example:

  • A doctor who specializes in the treatment of digestive conditions, called a gastroenterologist.
  • A surgeon who operates in the liver or the gallbladder.
  • A doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer is called an oncologist.

Here's some information to help you prepare for your appointment.

What you can do

  • Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. When you make your appointment, be sure to ask if there is anything that you need to do in advance, such as restrict your diet.
  • Write down your symptoms, including any that may not seem to be linked to the reason of his appointment, and when they began.
  • Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
  • Make a list of all medications, vitamins or supplements that you take, including over-dose.
  • Ask a family member or friend to go with you. Someone that can help you remember the information that is obtained.
  • Write questions to ask their health professional.

For gallbladder cancer, some basic questions to ask include:

  • Has my cancer of the gallbladder gone beyond my gallbladder?
  • More evidence is needed?
  • What are the treatments for my cancer of the gallbladder?
  • What are the benefits and risks of each treatment?
  • There is a treatment that suggest about the others?
  • You should see a specialist?
  • Are there brochures or other printed material I can have? What websites do you suggest?

Be sure to ask all the questions that you have.

What to expect from your doctor

Your health care team is likely to ask questions such as:

  • The symptoms been constant or come and go?
  • How bad are the symptoms?
  • What, if anything, seems to improve your symptoms?
  • What, if anything, appears to worsen your symptoms?
Symptoms and treatment of Gallbladder cancer