Can gallbladder cancer with liver metastasis be treated?

Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
Updated on September 22, 2024
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If a gallbladder cancer patient experiences liver metastasis, aggressive treatment can be applied, but it can only be symptomatic treatment and cannot achieve a cure.

Gallbladder cancer is a type of malignancy with a high degree of malignancy, prone to metastasis to other parts, and with very poor treatment outcomes. If liver metastasis occurs, the condition is severe and has reached the middle to late stages. Treatment cannot involve surgical removal at this time. Instead, active management should be employed to improve quality of life and better control the disease, though it cannot be cured. When gallbladder cancer patients experience liver metastasis, symptoms may include pain in the liver area, abnormal liver function, hypoalbuminemia, ascites, and other clinical symptoms. At this time, symptomatic treatment should be actively pursued to better maintain the patient's life and improve quality of life.

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Written by Shen Jiang Chao
Radiology
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Can gallbladder cancer be detected by ultrasound?

Gallbladder cancer can also be detected by ultrasound, which is the preferred imaging method for diagnosing hepatobiliary diseases. Ultrasound can detect space-occupying lesions in hepatobiliary diseases early on. It is sensitive enough to detect lesions as small as one centimeter, or even a few millimeters. In the case of space-occupying lesions of the gallbladder, particularly gallbladder cancer, there are no particularly obvious signals on ultrasound. Ultrasound of the gallbladder is merely used as a screening tool, not as a definitive diagnostic method. If gallbladder cancer is suspected, further investigations such as MRI or enhanced CT are generally required, but the final diagnosis still relies on pathology.

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Written by Li Hu Chen
Imaging Center
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Can cholecystitis be detected by color ultrasound?

If there is gallbladder cancer, usually an ultrasonography of the liver and gallbladder or the upper abdomen can detect it. Conditions such as gallbladder cancer or liver cancer are often initially discovered and diagnosed through ultrasound. Of course, the final confirmation of diagnosis is usually achieved through pathological examination after surgery. However, in terms of initial diagnosis, it is very common to identify these conditions through ultrasound. Gallbladder cancer typically presents certain characteristic changes, such as obvious thickening of the gallbladder wall, extensive thickening including sclerosis, and significant soft tissue mass growth extending to and adhering to the liver, which are strong indicators of gallbladder cancer. Additionally, a large polyp may be seen inside the gallbladder, and surgical removal at this stage may diagnose early gallbladder cancer.

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Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
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Can people with gallbladder cancer eat sea cucumber?

Patients with gallbladder cancer can eat sea cucumber. For patients with gallbladder cancer, there may be a decrease in resistance, especially a tendency for weight loss, and even the development of cachexia and hypoalbuminemia. Therefore, patients should pay attention to their diet and supplement it with foods high in protein to meet the body's needs for albumin and improve the patient's resistance. Furthermore, the diet of patients with gallbladder cancer should also avoid spicy and irritating foods to reduce inflammatory irritation. They should eat more fresh vegetables and fruits to better control the progression of the disease. For gallbladder cancer, treatment should ideally involve early surgical removal to achieve better prognosis.

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Written by Shen Jiang Chao
Radiology
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Gallbladder cancer CT manifestations

Gallbladder cancer commonly occurs in females, and its causes may be related to chronic and long-term irritation from cholecystitis and gallstones. On a CT scan, based on the tumor's pathological classification and growth patterns, it can be divided into the following types: The first type is the infiltrative type, which is characterized by irregular thickening of the gallbladder wall, usually greater than 1 cm, with a rough edge, and significant enhancement is seen after contrast enhancement. The second type is the mass-forming type, which presents as a large soft tissue mass filling the gallbladder, also showing significant enhancement after injection of contrast agent. The third type is the nodular type, which presents as either single or multiple nodules that protrude into the gallbladder cavity, appearing papillary or cauliflower-like. The fourth type is the obstructive type, generally a tumor at the neck of the gallbladder, causing obstruction of the common bile duct.

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Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
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What foods to eat for late-stage gallbladder cancer?

Patients with advanced liver cancer will experience metastasis to other parts of the body, presenting corresponding clinical symptoms that affect the quality of life. Furthermore, patients with advanced liver cancer often exhibit significant weight loss and cachexia, commonly accompanied by hypoalbuminemia. Therefore, for patients with advanced gallbladder cancer, it is advisable to include a diet rich in high-protein foods, which can help replenish the proteins needed by the body, such as albumin, and improve the patient's immunity. It is beneficial to eat fresh vegetables, fruits, as well as lean meats, eggs, and fish, to address these symptoms appropriately. At the same time, for patients with advanced gallbladder cancer, it is important to avoid spicy and irritating foods, as well as foods that are difficult to digest, because these can increase the burden on the gallbladder, exacerbating the condition and impeding treatment. Hence, this should be given careful consideration.