Management of Unsuspected Gallbladder Cancer in the Era of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Gallbladder cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the biliary tract and often diagnosed incidentally during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for gallbladder disease. This underscores the importance of considering the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer when confronted with atypical findings and understanding cancer management guidelines that may impact patient outcome. Potentially curable early stage gallbladder lesions are often missed during preoperative workup and discovered incidentally during difficult cholecystectomy or afterwards on pathologic diagnosis. We will review current strategies to diagnose early stage disease and discuss clinical management issues to optimize the outcome of patients with gallbladder cancer.