The Silent Killer: Understanding and Preventing Gallbladder Cancer

Both the liver and the pancreas are “silent organs”, and by the time a problem is discovered, it is usually too late. There was a 65-year-old woman who usually did not feel any discomfort, but occasionally had a little pain in the upper right abdomen, until one day she had vomiting and diarrhea and went to the emergency department. The examination found that there was a tumor in the gallbladder, and it had metastasized.

Gastroenterology and hepatobiliary physician Lin Xianghong pointed out on his Facebook page that gallbladder cancer is a silent killer. Any tumor involving the “liver, gallbladder, and pancreas” often has no symptoms, and it is not easy to detect and diagnose in the early stage. There is a 65-year-old woman who usually has no physical discomfort. At most, she sometimes feels pain in the upper right abdomen. It lasts for a long time, but because it does not happen often and the pain is not very painful, she does not pay much attention to it.

Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly suffered from vomiting and diarrhea one day, and her condition was so serious that she went to the emergency department. The tomographic scan failed, and it was found that there was a tumor in the gallbladder. What’s more unfortunate was that the lymph, liver, and peritoneum had metastasized. dare to believe.

So how to prevent gallbladder cancer? Lin Xianghong reminded that 80% of patients with gallbladder cancer have gallstones, but gallstones are a common disease, while gallbladder cancer is a rare disease. Only less than 1% of gallstones will develop into gallbladder cancer, so not all gallstone patients have gallstones. The gallbladder needs to be removed. However, it should be noted that if the gallbladder is chronically inflamed, or if the gallbladder is larger than 3 cm, the risk of gallbladder cancer will increase. In addition, if gallbladder polyps are larger than 1 cm, it is recommended to remove them preventively to prevent gallbladder cancer.

Lin Xianghong revealed that the following 5 conditions have a high probability of gallbladder cancer:

1. Family history increases the risk by 5 times

2. Smoking

3. Women have 3 to 4 times more cancer risk than men

4. Obesity

5. Elderly, most gallbladder cancers are over 65 years old

Because the early symptoms of gallbladder cancer are not obvious, most of them are misdiagnosed as “gallstones” or “chronic cholecystitis” for treatment. If you find loss of appetite, nausea, persistent right upper quadrant pain, weight loss, jaundice, or abdominal mass, you should pay special attention. However, it is often at an advanced stage, so to prevent gallbladder cancer and have related risk factors, it is necessary to undergo regular checkups.