gall bladder carcinoma in patients who underwent cholecystectomy due to gall stone; a 10 year study at shariati hospital

background: cancer of the gallbladder is an uncommon but a fatal disease. cholelithiasis has been identified as a major risk factor for this cancer. the objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the presence of cholelithiasis and gallbladder cancer. materials and methods: 1,136 patients who underwent cholecystectomy between 1993 and 2003 in shariati hospital, affiliated to tehran university of medical sciences were retrospectively studied and the proportion of patients who has had cholelithiasis was determined. finally, we identified those patients with cholelithiasis who were also diagnosed as gallbladder cancer. results: 1,055 (92.8%) patients underwent cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis; 1.4% of these patients had also pathology-proven cancer. on the other hand, during this period, 20 patients with gallbladder cancer were diagnosed; the initial diagnosis in 70.5% of these patients were cholelithiasis. in only 5% of cancer patients, the diagnosis of neoplasia was made initially. conclusion: although a very small portion of those with gallbladder stone will develop cancer, most of patients with gallbladder cancer present with signs and symptoms of gallbladder stone which may imply a close correlation between these two conditions. therefore, prophylactic cholecystectomy may be beneficial for patients with chronic gallbladder stone.