<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the clinical features of
patients with
gallbladder cancer from 17
hospitals in 5 Northwestern provinces (autonomous region) of
China from 2009 to 2013.</p><p><b>
METHODS</b>A total of 2 379 cases with
gallbladder cancer in 17
tertiary hospitals from 5 Northwestern provinces of
China from January 2009 to December 2013 were reviewed retrospectively. The clinical data was collected by standardized "
Questionnaire for Clinical
Survey of
Gallbladder Cancer in Northwestern Area of
China". χ² test was used to analyze the data.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1)
Gallbladder cancer from 17
hospitals accounted for 1.6%-6.8% of all
bile tract
diseases from 2009 to 2013 in Northwestern
China, average was 2.7%.
Gallbladder cancer accounted for 0.4%-0.9% of abdominal
surgery, average was 0.7%. (2) The
incidence of
gallbladder cancer was higher in the
aged females, the ration of
female to
male was 1.0 to 2.1. The average age of
gallbladder cancer was (64 ± 11) years. The
occupation of
patients was mainly
farmers (χ² = 147.10, P < 0.01). (3) 57.2% of the
gallbladder cancers were associated with
gallstones. (4) The main pathological patterns of
gallbladder cancer were moderate and poor differentiated
adenocarcinoma, showing an aggressive
malignancy. TNM stage IV accounted for 55.1% of all cases, which was associated with the poor
prognosis. (5) The curative resection rate was 30.4%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>
Gallbladder cancer is common in the
aged females and mainly at advanced stage. The
screening and follow-up of high-
risk groups with ultrasound and other
methods regularly could increase the
early diagnosis rate of
gallbladder cancer, aggressive surgical resection combined with other comprehensive
treatment could improve the
prognosis of
patients.</p>