Cancer Treatment

 

Gallbladder Cancer

Definition

Gallbladder cancer and bile duct cancer are rare cancers of the biliary tract. Your gallbladder stores and your bile duct transports bile, a fluid produced by your liver that’s essential to the digestive process.

Gallbladder cancer seldom produces symptoms in the early stages. In fact, early gallbladder cancer is often only discovered when the gallbladder is removed as a treatment for gallstones. Otherwise, gallbladder cancer is often quite advanced by the time it’s diagnosed.

 

Symptoms

Gallbladder cancer symptoms include : -

Abdominal pain : – Many people with gallbladder cancer have some abdominal pain — usually in the upper right part of the abdomen.

 

Nausea and vomiting : – These symptoms can occur when a tumor blocks the common bile duct.

 

Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice) : – Jaundice results from high blood levels of bilirubin — the residue from the breakdown of red blood cells. Normally, bilirubin is metabolized in your liver and eliminated through the bile ducts. But a blocked bile duct can cause bilirubin to accumulate in your blood. The built-up pigments may turn your skin and the whites of your eyes yellow and your urine dark brown. Because bilirubin isn’t being eliminated through your bile, your stools also may turn pale yellow or white.

 

Unintended weight loss or loss of appetite : – Tumors can prevent the normal passage of food or interfere with its absorption by blocking the flow of pancreatic enzymes.

 

Causes

Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side of your abdomen, just beneath your liver. Its main function is to store bile, a bitter, yellow-green fluid that’s produced in the liver cells. Bile is essential for the proper digestion of fats and is one of the main ways your body eliminates drugs, cholesterol and waste products of metabolism. It flows from your liver through a thin tube called the common hepatic duct and enters your gallbladder through another small tube (cystic duct)…

 

How gallbladder cancer begins

Healthy cells grow and divide in an orderly way — a process that’s controlled by DNA, the genetic material that contains the instructions for every chemical process in your body. When DNA is damaged, changes occur in these instructions. One result is that cells may begin to grow out of control and eventually form a malignant tumor — a mass of cancerous cells.

Although the exact cause of gallbladder and bile duct cancers isn’t clear, researchers believe that DNA in the cells of your biliary tract may be damaged by toxins that are routinely metabolized by your liver. These toxins are released into bile so that they can be eliminated from your body. But if bile empties more slowly than normal, it increases the amount of time your cells are exposed to cancer-causing substances (carcinogens).

 

Tests and diagnosis

Many gallbladder cancers are discovered after a laboratory examination of a gallbladder that’s been removed for other reasons. Only about one-quarter of gallbladder cancers are diagnosed before the cancer is advanced.

Diagnosing gallbladder cancer earlier than this is difficult because the gallbladder is hidden behind the liver and is relatively inaccessible, because signs and symptoms don’t develop until late in the disease, and because when symptoms do appear, they can easily be mistaken for those of many other, more common conditions…

 

Staging biliary tract cancers

Doctors stage biliary tract cancers in several ways. One method is as follows : -

Resectable : – These cancers have not spread beyond the walls of the gallbladder or bile ducts and can be entirely removed in an operation. The term “resectable” refers to a cancer that can be removed.

 

Unresectable : – At this stage, the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs such as the liver, pancreas, stomach or intestines and can’t be completely removed.

 

Recurrent : – This refers to cancer that returns after it has been treated. It may recur in the gallbladder or bile duct or in some other part of the body.

 

Treatments

Gallbladder cancer treatment depends on the type and stage of cancer, as well as on your age, overall health, feelings and personal preferences. Especially when cancer is advanced, choosing a treatment plan is a major decision, and it’s important to take enough time to consider your choices.

You may also want to consider seeking a second opinion. This can provide additional information to help you feel more certain about the option you’re considering.

The goal of any treatment is to eliminate the cancer completely. When that isn’t possible, the focus may be on preventing the tumor from growing or causing more harm. In some cases, an approach called palliative care may be best. Palliative care refers to treatment aimed not at removing or slowing the disease, but at helping relieve symptoms and making you as comfortable as possible…

 

 

 

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By: Pankaj Nagpal