A case of metastatic gallbladder tumor of the hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

A 49-year-old man had undergone hepatic intra-arterial chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) with vascular invasion in July 2005. Consequently, the viable lesions disappeared. On follow-up abdominal computed tomography, polypoid mass was detected in the gallbladder lumen and he was admitted to our hospital. After further examination, we diagnosed the lesion as gallbladder polyp, which seemed likely to be gallbladder cancer. Cholecystectomy was performed in April 2006. Pathological examination showed that the tumor consisted of trabecular and solid growth of polygonal atypical epithelial cells that invaded the submucosal lymph node and veins. Based on these histological features, we diagnosed metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma. Since few cases of gallbladder metastasis from HCC have been reported to date, we document this extremely rare case.