[Three Cases of Conversion Surgery for Unresectable Advanced Gallbladder Cancer with Distant Metastasis Treated with...

All three patients were female, one in her 50s, and the other two in their 60s. The one in her 50s had liver metastasis and the other two had unresectable advanced cholecystic carcinomas with peritoneal dissemination. All three received 8-12 courses of gemcitabine plus CDDP(GC). After GC, all three were deemed to be candidates for R0 resection and underwent resection of two central liver segments. In addition, the second patient required an extrahepatic cholangiectomy; an extended cholecystectomy, plus an extrahepatic cholangiectomy, plus a complete omental resection; and the third needed an extended cholecystectomy, plus an extrahepatic cholangiectomy with a partial transverse colon resection, plus a partial duodenectomy. The pathologic response to chemotherapy was moderate in the patient with liver metastases, mild in the one who underwent the omental resection, and moderate in the patient who had the partial resection of the digestive tract. All three patients continued with postoperative chemotherapy. The patient with liver metastases and the one with the partial gastrointestinal tract resection have survived without recurrence for 52 months and 43 months, respectively, after the initial treatment. The patient with the omental resection has survived 44 months after the initial treatment with recurrent peritoneal dissemination and is continuing chemotherapy as an outpatient. Although further study is needed to accumulate more cases, the results suggest the usefulness of multidisciplinary treatment including conversion surgery in cases such as these.