A clinicopathological study of nine cases of gallbladder carcinoma in 1122 cholecystectomies in Johor, Malaysia

An audit of 1122 cholecystectomies for a 6-year period from 2000 to 2005 was done to review cases of primary carcinoma of gallbladder. There were nine cases of primary carcinoma of gallbladder. Six were females and 3 males. Their ages ranged from 27 to 81 years. Pre-operatively, only 2 (11.1%) were clinically suspected of carcinoma while 3 were diagnosed as cholecystitis, two as cholelithiasis and one case each of ovarian cyst and intestinal obstruction. Intra-operatively, an additional four cases were suspected as gallbladder carcinoma with the remaining three cases diagnosed as only having gallstones. Altogether only 5 (55.6 %) cases were associated with gallstones. Six (66.67%) cases of gallbladder carcinoma had abnormal macroscopical lesions notedeither papillary lesions or polypoid masses. The remaining 3 cases had thickening of the wall, consistent with chronic cholecystitis. Seven cases were found histologically to be adenocarcinoma. Of these, two were papillary carcinoma and one signet ring cell type adenocarcinoma. One case of squamous cell carcinoma and one case of adenosquamous carcinoma were noted. This study highlights the importance of careful macroscopical and microscopical evaluation of a routine pathological examination of gallbladder removed for cholecystitis or cholelithiasis. It provides the incidence of gallbladder carcinoma in patients who underwent cholecystectomies in a government hospital in Johor, Malaysia