title: Multidisciplinary collaboration in gallbladder carcinoma treatment: A case report and literature review.
abstract: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a rare and highly aggressive disease. The diagnosis of this cancer is difficult due to its occult onset. Hence, GBC is often detected late and at an advanced stage. Although physicians and researchers are continually working to improve the treatment for advanced-stage disease, GBC is usually associated with short survival times. The present study describes a case of GBC that was first diagnosed with accompanying cholecystolithiasis at the time of cholecystectomy. Cancer relapse occurred 1.5 years after the cholecystectomy. Multidisciplinary collaboration was involved in the decision-making process for the treatment of this aggressive recurrence, and the survival time was successfully extended to 26 months. Importantly, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia and positive margins had previously been detected post-cholecystectomy at a different institution, but were ignored. Relapse may have been preventable had the cancer been diagnosed when it was initially observed. Taken together, these findings suggest that multidisciplinary collaboration should be considered for the management of advanced GBC, whereby patients will benefit from improved survival times. Furthermore, it is recommended that samples obtained from patients undergoing cholecystectomy should more carefully analyzed for evidence of cancerous or precancerous tissues.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Center, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Yun
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Center, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Center, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yu-Zheng
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Zhuge
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Center, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Center, Drum-Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bao-Rui
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: cancerous or precancerous tissue; cholecystectomy; gallbladder carcinoma; multidisciplinary collaboration; survival times