Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program

Gallbladder Cancer

What Is Gallbladder Cancer? | Risk Factors | Symptoms and Diagnosis | Stages | Treatment Options | About Clinical Trials | Greenebaum Cancer Center

What Is Gallbladder Cancer?

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Nader Hanna, M.D.

Get answers to your questions about surgery for gallbladder cancer by e-mailing Dr. Nader Hanna.

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Naimish Pandya, M.D.

Get answers to your medical oncology questions about gallbladder cancer by e-mailing Dr. Naimish Pandya.

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Note: This is for informational purposes only. Doctors cannot provide a diagnosis via e-mail.

Gallbladder cancer is a disease in which cancerous cells develop in the tissues of the gallbladder, a pear-shaped organ that lies just under the liver in the upper abdomen. The gallbladder is part of the digestive system. It plays an important role in digestion by storing and releasing bile into the stomach to help digest fat.

Each year 6,000 to 7,000 new cases of gallbladder are diagnosed in the United States. Although it is not a common cancer, it is much more common among certain groups of people and in particular areas of the country and world than others.

More than twice as many women as men develop the disease. It is more common among white women than among black women and, in the United States, is most common among Mexican-Americans and Native Americans. It almost always occurs in persons older than age 70.



This page was last updated on: March 19, 2008.

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