2018 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 105-113
Surgical resection that leaves no residual tumor (R0 resection) offers the best chance for cure in patients with gallbladder cancer. The tumor may easily infiltrate various adjacent organs due to its anatomical location and malignant tumor biology and thus, the scope of the radical resection for gallbladder cancer should be tailored based on the extent of tumor spread in individual patients to achieve R0 resection. An aggressive surgical approach (major hepatectomy and/or pancreaticoduodenectomy) to gallbladder cancer has been advocated to improve treatment outcomes for this disease mainly in Japan and now indications and limitations for these procedures have been delineated. As for surgical procedures for pT2 gallbladder cancer, there is no evident consensus on the extent of resection such as hepatectomy, lymphadenectomy, and bile duct resection. Recent studies have reported new findings regarding the surgical treatment for incidental gallbladder cancer. Here, we clarify current surgical treatment for gallbladder cancer and consider the optimal extent of resection for this disease based on the tumor spread.
