[Primary gallbladder cancer]

118 surgically-treated patients with gall bladder carcinoma and 407 autopsies recording this diagnosis were reviewed and analysed with a view to investigating the reasons for the bad prognosis of this disease. An early tumour stage was seen in only 5.9% of the surgical patients. A possible reason for the bad results even at an early tumour stage is undertreatment by simple cholecystectomy. In advanced stages of gall bladder carcinoma palliative operations have a better prognosis than diagnostic laparotomies. Prevention of gall bladder carcinoma through prophylactic cholecystectomy in the case of documented lithiasis failed to prevent gall bladder carcinoma in our group of patients because only 9% of the patients with gall bladder carcinoma had been diagnosed as having lithiasis in time to consider cholecystectomy as a preventive measure.