What is gallbladder cancer?
Gallbladder cancer is when abnormal cells in the gallbladder start to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. Without treatment, the cells can eventually grow into surrounding tissues or organs, and may spread to other areas of the body.
The gallbladder is a small, hollow, pear-shaped pouch about 8cm long and about 2.5cm wide. It lies underneath the right side of your liver, in your upper abdomen.
Two tubes connect to the gallbladder, the small and large bile ducts. Together these make up the common bile duct. The gallbladder and bile ducts form your biliary tract. This is called the biliary tree or biliary system.
You may hear it called biliary cancer. This is because gallbladder and biliary tract cancers are sometimes grouped together.
We have separate information about bile duct cancer.
How common is gallbladder cancer?
Gallbladder cancer is rare. Around 1,100 people are diagnosed in the UK each year. It's more common in women than in men.
What does the gallbladder do?
The gallbladder concentrates and stores bile.
Bile is a fluid made in the liver from cholesterol, water, bilirubin and bile salts. Bilirubin comes from the breakdown of used red blood cells and gives bile its greenish colour.
Bile helps you to break down (digest) fats in your small bowel (intestine). To get the bile to the food in your gut, your body either:
- releases it straight away from the liver and down the bile ducts into your small intestine
- stores it first in your gallbladder, which releases bile into your common bile duct as you need it
Your gallbladder is not an essential part of your body. You can live without it. So after having it taken out, you’re still able to digest your food.
The gallbladder is a small organ tucked under the liver. It is a small, hollow pouch about 8cm long and 2.5cm wide and is connected to the liver and bowel by a series of tubes known as the bile ducts.
The liver makes bile which helps to break down fats from food. The gallbladder stores the bile until there are fats in the bowel that need digesting. Bile can also pass directly to the bowel from the liver. A sphincter controls the release of bile into the bowel.
Cancer of the gallbladder and bile ducts are rare in the UK. They are called biliary cancers.
Bile duct cancers are divided into 3 types depending on where they develop. Intrahepatic bile duct cancer forms inside the liver. Perihilar bile duct cancer forms just outside the liver where the right and left hepatic ducts meet. And distal bile duct cancer forms in the bile ducts that go through the pancreas to the small bowel.
Lymph nodes surround these organs and make up part of our immune system, helping us fight infections. They are often the first place cancer cells reach when they break away from a tumour.
For information about gallbladder and bile duct cancers go to cruk.org/cancer-types
Lymph nodes near the gallbladder
Like all other parts of the body, there are lymph nodes near the gallbladder. You may hear these called lymph glands. They are small bean shaped glands that are part of the lymphatic system. They help to control infection by filtering the lymphatic fluid. They filter out any bacteria, viruses or damaged cells.
The lymph nodes are often the first place that cancer cells reach when they break away from a tumour. So surgeons usually remove them during cancer surgery and send them to the lab. A specialist called a pathologist examines them for cancer cells.
Removing and checking lymph nodes is part of staging the cancer. The stage of a cancer is important. It helps doctors to decide the most suitable treatment.
