Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for treatment of unexpected early-stage gallbladder cancer.

Background And Objectives: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) may result in the incidental diagnosis of early stage (T1 and T2) gallbladder cancer. LC is useful for T1 patients, however, its role in T2 patients remains controversial. We sought to determine the effect of initial LC on patient outcome in early-stage gallbladder cancer.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with T1 or T2 disease were reviewed retrospectively to assess preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative findings, and outcomes.

Results: Diagnoses included gallbladder stones (5), gallstones with polyps (5), and gallbladder polyps (19). Malignancy was suspected in 15 patients (14 polyp lesions and 1 gallbladder stone with wall thickening). After frozen sections, two T2 patients were immediately treated with radical operation owing to positive margins. Of 14 patients diagnosed by pathology, 4 T2 patients with positive margins underwent a second radical operation. Five-year survival rate was 100% and 49.6 % (T1 and T2 patients). No mortality or recurrence was detected in T1 patients (mean follow-up, 45.8 months; range, 6-98 months). Three T2 patients died, and one T2 patient relapsed after LC. No port site metastasis was detected.

Conclusions: LC for T1a and T1b gallbladder cancer needs no additional treatment, however, radical operation for T2 patients is recommended, regardless of the margin condition.