Gallbladder cancer (GC) is a relatively rare but highly lethal neoplasm. We review the epidemiology, etiology, pathology, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, treatment, and prognosis of GC.

A Pubmed database search between 1971 and February 2007 was performed. All abstracts were reviewed and articles with GC obtained; further references were extracted by hand-searching the bibliography. The database search was done in the English language.

The accurate etiology of GC remains unclear, while the symptoms associated with primary GC are not specific. Treatment with radical cholecystectomy is curative but possible in only 10% to 30% of patients. For patients whose cancer is an incidental finding on pathologic review, re-resection is indicated, where feasible, for all disease except T1a. Patients with advanced disease should receive palliative treatment. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is contraindicated in the presence of GC.

Prognosis generally is extremely poor. Improvements in the outcome of surgical resection have caused this approach to be re-evaluated, while the role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy remains controversial.