Intestinal Type of Villous Adenoma of Gallbladder

Precancerous conditions in the gallbladder are still a matter of interest of numerous investigators, but reliable and definite attitude is not jet available. Particularly, many regenerative/reparative changes during inflammation and cholelithiasis in the gallbladder cannot be classified with certainty as lesions which precede malignant alteration. However, it is considered that metaplastic-dysplastic changes, which appear in mucosa and can lead to malignant neoplasia, are one of the ways of cancer morphogenesis. This way is considered as non-neoplastic way of gallbladder carcinoma development. The other way of cancer genesis goes through precancerous neoplasia, i.e. adenoma. The aim of this article was to, upon a polyp found in the gallbladder after cholecystectomy in a 70-year-old patient, determine one of the ways of gallbladder carcinoma morphogenesis. Cholecystectomy was done after ultrasound finding of the gallbladder polyp. Macroscopically and microscopically, it was the intestinal type of villous adenoma with the third degree epithelial dysplasia, which designates that this adenoma has reliable signs for precancerous lesion, and confirms the adenoma-carcinoma sequence theory, already characteristic for large intestine, the opinion the authors agree with. Acta Medica Medianae 2010;49(3):50-54.