Gallbladder Cancer With Jaundice: Surgery Versus No Surgery

Area of Science:

• Surgical Oncology
• Gastroenterology
• Hepatobiliary Surgery

Background:

• Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) with jaundice presents a poor prognosis, with controversial surgical management strategies.
• Limited comparative studies exist for curative resection (CR) versus non-curative resection/palliation (NCR) in GBC patients with jaundice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the clinical outcomes and overall survival (OS) between curative resection (CR) and non-curative resection (NCR) in patients with GBC and jaundice.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 59 patients with GBC and jaundice from May 2009 to March 2021.
• Patients were categorized into CR (n=34) or NCR (n=25) groups.
• Comparison of clinical-demographical profiles and overall survival (OS).

Main Results:

• Median OS was significantly higher in the CR group (20 months) compared to the NCR group (6 months) (p=0.001).
• Improved median OS was observed in CR patients receiving chemotherapy (22 months) versus NCR patients (12 months) (p=0.001).
• Even without chemotherapy, CR patients showed better median OS (14 months) than NCR patients (3 months) (p=0.001).

Conclusions:

• Curative surgical resection (CR) provides significantly better overall survival for patients with gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) and jaundice compared to non-curative resection (NCR) alone.
• The findings support CR as a superior strategy for improving survival outcomes in this patient population.