Treatment
The treatment depends upon the gallbladder carcinoma staging along with other factors. Some of the options for gallbladder cancer treatment are:
- Surgery: The surgery for gallbladder cancer can be divided into two broad categories: resectable cancer and unresectable cancer. Resectable cancer is completely removed by surgery. Advanced cancer is unresectable cancer and is not removed entirely by surgery. Laparoscopic surgery, a minimally invasive surgery, is initially done to determine if the cancer is resectable. It assists the surgeon in planning the surgery. The surgeries for resectable cancer include simple cholecystectomy and radical cholecystectomy. Cholecystectomy is the process of removal of the gallbladder. Simple cholecystectomy can be performed through laparoscopic or open surgery. Radical or extended cystectomy involves the removal of the entire gallbladder along with all the surrounding lymph nodes and some part of the liver near the gallbladder. The patient should visit the best hospital for gallbladder surgery in India.
- Chemotherapy for gallbladder cancer: Chemotherapy for gallbladder cancer may be used along with surgery or radiation therapy. When used after the surgery to kill the remaining cancer cells, the therapy is known as adjuvant therapy. Chemotherapy may also be used as part of palliative care to reduce the signs, symptoms, and complications of gallbladder cancer.
- Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy involves using high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells. Radiation therapy is of two types. In external beam radiation therapy, a machine guides high-energy radiation from outside the body. In internal beam radiation therapy, also known as brachytherapy, a source of radiation is placed inside the patients to kill the cancer cells. The advanced techniques used in radiation therapy include intensity-modulated radiation therapy and three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. Radiation therapy may also be combined with chemotherapy, a procedure known as chemoradiation.
- Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is recommended in patients with advanced gallbladder cancer. Immunotherapy works by enhancing the immune system of the patients against cancer cells. The cancer cells synthesize and release protein that helps them to evade the attack of the immune system. Immunotherapy interferes with this process and makes the cancer cells vulnerable to getting detected and destroyed by the immune cells.
- Targeted therapy: This therapy may also be recommended in patients with advanced gallbladder cancer. Certain processes in the cancer cells are vital for their growth and development. Targeted therapy interferes with these vital processes, kills cancer cells, or limits their growth.
