title: Carcinoma of the gallbladder--a natural history type of study.
abstract: A retrospective analysis of the natural history of 63 consecutive patients with gallbladder cancer during 30 years at a county hospital in Sweden is presented. Dominating symptoms were pain, jaundice, weight loss, and a palpable mass. Fifty patients were subjected to surgery. Forty-one patients had an extensive tumor spread in the abdominal cavity. Twenty-six patients were cholecystectomized and in 24 patients biopsy from the tumor was the only measure taken. The gallbladder cancer was occult in four patients. The median survival time was 1 month in patients who underwent autopsy, 2 months in patients who were biopsied and 4 months in patients who were cholecystectomized. The overall 6-month and 1-year crude survival rates were 16% and 8%, respectively. Comparison with previous reports regardless of treatment reveals that the prognosis of gallbladder cancer is still dismal and unchanged.
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery; D002763:Cholecystectomy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis