ABSTRACT
A 71-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of a right upper abdominal tumor. A contrast-CT scan demonstrated a huge tumor extending from the hepatic hilum to the pelvic space. The rim of tumor was enhanced. The center of the tumor was not enhanced and thus considered to consist of mucus or necrotic tissues. Preoperative diagnosis as gallbladder carcinoma without infiltrating to peripheral organ was made and subsequent cholecystectomy with full-thickness dissection has been performed. The tumor itself was in a swollen gallbladder, 18 cm in diameter, consisting of necrotic tissues in the lumen. Pathologic diagnosis was papillary adenocarcinoma, classified as pHinf1a, revealing fStage II. In many cases with undifferentiated carcinoma of the gallbladder, the neoplasms grow expansively to become large tumors with marked necrosis. We report a rare case of papillary adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder presenting both a clinical course and radiologic findings indistinguishable from undifferentiated carcinoma of the gallbladder.
