Cancer de vesícula biliar en la IX región de Chile: impacto del estudio anatomopatológico en 474 casos / Gallbladder cancer in the IX region of Chile: importance of anatomopathological study in 474 cases

ABSTRACT

We studied prospectively 474 cases (83 percent female with a female male ratio of 51) of gallbladder carcinoma diagnosed in a period of 7 years. 22 percent of patients were younger than 50 years old. Ninety percent of tumors were adenocarcinomas in 1987, 45 percent of cases were diagnosed in metastases compared to 1993, when only 10 percent of tumors were diagnosed in such histological material. Thirty four percent of tumors were not macroscopically identified; all these inapparent tumors were advanced in 1987, whereas 53 percent were incipient in 1993. Moreover, inapparent tumors had a significantly lower degree of gallbladder wall infiltration and higher degree of differentiation. Well differentiated tumors had a lesser degree of wall infiltration. It is concluded that the careful histopathological study of gallbladder cancer has allowed a thorough knowledge of the natural history and clinical presentation of gallbladder carcinoma