A study on the clinical profile and treatment outcomes in gallbladder carcinoma from Northern India

Aim: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is a common cancer in women in North India. This prospective observational study aimed at systematically studying the clinical features, treatment response, and survival pattern of GBC patients, in a North Indian population. Materials and Methods: The clinical profile, staging of disease, and treatment outcomes of 116 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed GBC, presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Lucknow from June 2013 to August 2015, with a follow-up period of 2 years till August 2017, were studied. Data were captured on a predesigned study proforma and analyzed with appropriate statistical tools. Results: The median age at presentation was 60 years and 67 patients had coexisting gall stones. Patients were divided into three treatment groups for the analysis. Group A comprised patients who underwent radical cholecystectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Group B included patients who received the best supportive care and Group C consisted of patients who received palliative chemotherapy. The median overall survival (mOS) was 16, 2, and 9 months for Group A, B, and C patients, respectively. The mOS was 8 months for all patients, irrespective of treatment groups. On univariate analysis, factors having an adverse impact on mOS included obstructive jaundice, elevated liver enzymes, treatment groups, and advanced stage of disease. On multivariate analysis, only factor found significantly associated with mOS was treatment group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: GBC was found to be the second most common malignancy among females in our hospital registry with a uniformly poor prognosis. Patients receiving radical surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy were the longest survivors in this study. Better screening and early diagnosis are the cornerstones of improving outcomes in this aggressive malignancy.