Surgery for gallbladder cancer: The need to generate greater evidence

The outcomes for gallbladder cancer remain largely dismal to this day. Overall, the low incidence of gallbladder cancer around the world coupled with an even lower number of patients amenable to surgery at the time of presentation, has precluded the generation of evidence-based guidelines for the management of this cancer. However, while the incidence of the cancer may be decreasing in some parts of the world, in other countries such as India, Japan and Chile, gallbladder cancer continues to affect a sizeable population of patients. As such, there is a growing need to define what constitutes an adequate surgery for each stage of this cancer, based on sound evidence. This editorial provides a broad overview of the existing problems in the management of gallbladder cancer and appeals for multi-institutional studies aimed at answering some of the pertinent questions on the surgical management of gallbladder cancer.