Clinical differences of the relationship between gallbladder stones and gallbladder carcinoma between genders

Abstract

To determine the clinical differences of the relationship between gallstones and gallbladder cancer between genders, we studied 183 cases of gallbladder carcinoma which were not associated with pancreaticobiliary maljunction among 197 cases ascertained by surgery or autopsy. These consisted of 117 gallbladder carcinomas with stones, and 66 carcinomas without stones. We also investigated 2,330 patients with gallstones but without gallbladder cancer during the same period. Women with gallbladder cancer had a higher percentage of coexistent stones than men (p<0.001). The mean age of the patients with both gallbladder cancer and gallstones was older compared to that of the patients with gallstones only, by 16 years in men and by 12 years in women. Among men with gallbladder cancer, the incidence of cholecystolithiasis increased with age, up to 80% in those in their eighties, whereas there was no such tendency among women. On the other hand, the proportion of cancer patients among cholecystolithiasis patients increased with age, and the frequencies in women were consistently higher than those in men in every 10-year group. The se facts indicate that gallstones can influence more significantly the occurrence of gallbladder carcinoma in women.