[Biliary lithiasis and carcinoma of the gallbladder]

Gallstones are a major risk factor for gallbladder cancer, but only few patients with stone experience develop this tumor. To examine this relationship, twenty-one patients with gallbladder cancer referred to our Institute over a 26-year period were studied. The tumor was most common in older females (95.2%) (median age 69.2 years). Seventy-six percent of patients had gallstones. The cell type in 57.1% of patients was adenocarcinoma. The prognosis is poor, the median survival time was 6.7 months.