Gallbladder cancer

Gallbladder cancer is a type of liver cancer, it lies underneath the liver and is linked to the bile duct.

The medical name for cancer in the bile duct is cholangiocarcinoma.

The most common place for a tumour to grow is in the lining of the duct wall. This is called a Klatskin tumour.

The cancer can also grow in the part of the hepatic bile duct that is outside the liver (the extrahepatic bile duct).

Surgery is the main treatment for gall bladder cancer and may be used to remove all the cancer if it has not spread beyond the area of the gall bladder.

If the cancer has spread beyond the gall bladder, surgery may still be used to help improve a person’s symptoms by removing as much of the cancer as possible.

Whether surgery is possible or not depends on the results of the investigations described above. You may be referred to a surgeon with a special interest in this rare cancer.

Treatment is likely to be surgery and may occur in a specialist centre.

Gall bladder tumours can also start in the liver itself.

The place where the cancer first starts to grow is called the primary site.