Abstract
Adenocarcinoma is the predominant histological type of gallbladder cancer, and small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder has been rarely reported. This paper deals with a case of small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder.
A 66-year-old man who had complained of abdominal pain and first been treated by gallbladder drainage with a diagnosis of cholecystitis at another hospital was referred to our hospital because gallbladder carcinoma was suspected. Blood examinations when he was first seen at our hospital showed no inflammatory reaction, but CA125 level was elevated to 40.2U/ml. An abdominal CT scan revealed a 45×39 mm solid tumor at the fundus of gallbladder, a part of which protruded into the serosal side, but no regional lymph node swelling was noted. There were no multiple organ metastases, and then the patient was operated on. After confirming that no demonstrable peritoneal dissemination was present, we performed laparotomy. It disclosed that there were no prominent exposure of the tumor to the serosal surface and no regional lymph node swelling. Resection of the liver bed was performed. The pathological diagnosis was small cell carcinoma, SS, INFβ, ly1, v1, pN0, pHinf0, pBM0, and pEM0. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and he has been followed in our clinic as of 2.5 years after the operation.
