Aggressive surgery for stage IV gallbladder carcinoma; what are the contraindications?
OBJECTIVE
Advanced gallbladder carcinoma with paraaortic lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis is normally considered a contraindication for surgery. Our latest analyses suggest otherwise.


METHODS
Records of 166 patients who underwent surgery for stage IV gallbladder carcinoma were reviewed retrospectively. Predictors of hospital mortality and long-term survival were analyzed. Long-term survival in patients with paraaortic lymph node metastasis and/or distant metastasis was also determined.


RESULTS
Fifteen patients were 5-year survivors, with a 5-year survival rate of 12% among the 166 patients investigated. Overall hospital mortality was 14%. Male sex and portal vein resection were independent predictors of hospital mortality. Multivariate analysis of long-term survival failed to identify independent predictors. Patients with distant metastasis were divided into two groups based on whether or not the metastases were distant from the liver. Patients with paraaortic lymph node metastasis who underwent curative resection or who had isolated liver metastasis survived longer than those with other distant metastasis or those with unresectable advanced cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with advanced gallbladder carcinoma can benefit from surgical resection even when paraaortic lymph node metastasis and/or liver metastasis are present. However, surgical indications in advanced disease should be determined on an individual basis, based on clinical status.
Nishio
Hideki
H
Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.
Nagino
Masato
M
Ebata
Tomoki
T
Yokoyama
Yukihiro
Y
Igami
Tsuyoshi
T
Nimura
Yuji
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome