Experimental studies on the significance of intestinal metaplasia for precancerous lesion in carcinoma of the gallbladder

Abstract

The incidence and distribution of goblet cells were investigated in 15 cases of carcinoma of the gallbladder and 26 non-malignant lesions of the gallbladder induced in hamsters by either intracholecystic Methylcholanthrene (MC) Beeswax pellets or Beeswax pellects only. The incidence of goblet cells in carcinoma of the gallbladder was 56% (the cancerous region was 20%, and the mucosa surrounding the tumor was 53%). The incidence was higher than 34% in the control group, but was not significantly different. The distribution of goblet cells was mild to moderate in both the carcinomas of the gallbladder and in the control group, but it's frequency was also not significantly different. The incidence of goblet cells according to the histological type of the tumor was 83% in the well-differentiated adenocarcinomas, and this was the highest incidence of any of the other histological types. However, only forty % of the well-differentiated adenocarcinomas were detected by the presence of goblet cells in both the cancerous region and the mucosa surrounding the tumor. All of them showed a mild-to-moderate distribution of goblet cells.
From the above results, it is suggested that intestinal metaplasia might not play a role in the precancerous lesion of carcinoma of the gallbladder induced in hamsters.