Carcinoma of the gallbladder

A retrospective study of 100 proved cases of primary carcinoma of the gallbladder admitted to the University Surgical Unit, University of Hong Kong, over a 20-year period was undertaken. The female to male ratio was 1·4 to 1. The peak incidence was in the seventh decade for the females and the sixth decade for the males. Preoperative diagnosis was made in 10 patients. ‘Curative’ cholecystectomy was performed in 20 patients with a 5-year survival rate of 10 per cent. Palliative procedures were performed in 44 patients with a median survival of 8 weeks, which was notsignificantly different from that in the 30 patients who were not operated upon or had laparotomy and biopsy only. Radical resection was carried out in 6 patients, all of whom died in hospital. Gallstones were found in only 26 patients. The gallbladders of 3 patients had associated benign tumours, one of which had malignant transformation at multiple sites. One patient had chronic typhoid infection. The incidence of clonorchis infestation and primary pyogenic cholangitis in these 100 patients was not different from that of our general hospital population.