[Gallbladder cancers discovered fortuitously]

The aim of this retrospective study was to report a series of 12 carcinomas of the gallbladder diagnosed on the histological examination of specimens after cholecystectomy.

From 1986 to 1996, 784 cholecystectomies were performed in the same center and 12 unexpected carcinomas of the gallbladder were histologically diagnosed (11 adenocarcinomas and one epidermoid carcinoma; one pT1, five pT2 and six pT3). There were nine women and three men (mean age: 72 years) with symptoms in relation with lithiasis. Complementary treatments were: intraoperative radiation therapy (IRT) plus external beam radiation therapy (ERT) in two cases (one pT1 and one pT2), surgery for a 2 cm deep excision of the liver bed plus lymph node dissection plus IRT and ERT in three cases (three pT3), ERT plus chemotherapy in one case (one pT3), no complementary treatment in six cases (four pT2 and two pT3).

One patient died on day 30 from acute respiratory failure. There was no morbidity. One patient died at 7 months from intercurrent disease. The mean survival rate for patients with pT1 and pT2 tumors was 45 months (with two recurrences at 1 year and 3 years) and for patients with pT3 tumors, 6.7 months.

Unexpected carcinomas of the gallbladder were recognized in 1.5% of specimens after cholecystectomy for lithiasis. In pT1 tumors, a simple cholecystectomy is sufficient. In pT2 and pT3, a liver resection with lymph node dissection is required, eventually associated with radiation therapy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is contraindicated in case of pre- or peroperative suspicion of a gallbladder carcinoma because of the risk of port site recurrences.