Gallbladder Cancer Symptoms and Treatment

The gallbladder is a small organ located on the right side of the abdomen. It has a pear shape and it’s designed to store bile, which is a yellow-green bitter fluid produced in liver cells. This fluid is released into the intestine to help aid in digestion.

Gallbladder cancer symptoms Patients with gallbladder cancer hardly ever have symptoms in the early stage, which means that by the time they do have signs of this condition it’s usually advanced, making it difficult or impossible to cure. In the early stages it may be possible to remove the cancerous cells. But once it reaches advanced stages, treatments can help but not cure the problem. Only about 25 percent of gallbladder cancers are discovered in the early stages.

Gallbladder cancer is often detected by accident: during a routine checkup or when your doctor is trying to diagnose other health problems. When signs of gallbladder cancer do begin to present themselves, they're hard to diagnose because they're similar to symptoms of other problems, especially gallstones or infections. Nonetheless, here are some gallbladder cancer signs to watch out for.

• Pain in the upper right abdomen
• Nausea and vomiting
• Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (also common symptoms of jaundice).
• Sudden loss of appetite
• Unintended weight loss

Signs and symptoms of bile duct cancer include

• Jaundice.
• Enlarged gallbladder.
• Intense itching (known medically as pruritis)

Treatment Gallbladder cancer treatment depends on a number of different factors. Your doctors will consider the stage the cancer has reached, your age, your overall health, and your lifestyle preferences.

Since the gallbladder isn't essential to life, it is often surgically removed when cancer is discovered, even in the early stages. This may also be true for cancer in part of the bile duct.

If the cancer has spread beyond the walls of the gallbladder, other measures besides gallbladder removal may be necessary. Radiation and chemotherapy may be among the options.

Surgery is often also the best option for anyone with bile duct cancer. But the location and stage of the cancer will require careful consideration in the decision making process.