Combined treatment of gallbladder cancer

Studies have shown that chemotherapy still cannot prolong the survival of patients with gallbladder cancer. The standard drugs used are 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin, which can cause tumor shrinkage in 20%-25% of patients. However, as the tumor shrinks, the patient may be in a worse condition in the future because the tumor usually grows again quickly, and the treatment has some side effects.

The effectiveness of radiation therapy for gallbladder cancer is limited by the damage it causes to surrounding noncancerous liver tissue. Radiation therapy may be helpful for those who have a small piece of tumor remaining after surgery or those who have had most of the tumor removed.

For patients who are not candidates for surgery, radiation therapy to the gallbladder area is given, although recurrence of the tumor is more likely. Toxicity of this radiation therapy may also be worse due to symptoms such as nausea and loss of appetite.

External-beam radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy after surgery may help and may delay the time before the cancer returns or even cure people in whom surgery did not remove all of the tumor. This treatment is still being studied.