April 26, 2024

Medical Trend

Medical News and Medical Resources

Can gallbladder polyps develop into gallbladder cancer? 



Can gallbladder polyps develop into gallbladder cancer?

Can gallbladder polyps develop into gallbladder cancer? 

As the curative effect of gallbladder cancer is currently not ideal, we recommend active surgical treatment for some gallbladder polyps to avoid the development of gallbladder cancer.

As mentioned earlier, gallbladder polyps are called “polyps” not because their fundamental properties are the same as polyps, but because they are similar in shape to polyps. Therefore, a gallbladder polyp can be a protrusion formed by any component that looks similar to a “polyp”.

For example, adenomas, gallbladder cancers, inflammatory polyps made of cells, and polyps made of cholesterol crystals that have the same properties as gallbladder stones.

 

Can gallbladder polyps develop into gallbladder cancer?

 

 

How does gallbladder polyps happen?

Since gallbladder polyps is not a certain disease, its cause is more complicated. It may be related to chronic cholecystitis, gallbladder stones and cholesterol metabolism disorders. It may also be related to factors such as obesity, smoking, hyperlipidemia, hyperinsulinemia, and liver cirrhosis.

 

What are the manifestations of gallbladder polyps?

In fact, most of the patients with gallbladder polyps do not have any discomfort, and the disease is often discovered accidentally during physical examination of the abdomen B.

A relatively small number of symptomatic patients is the most common tolerable upper abdominal distension. Only when the gallbladder polyp is located in the neck of the gallbladder and affects the emptying of the gallbladder, can postprandial pain or colic in the right upper quadrant after a fatty meal occur.

Abdominal pain will be more obvious in patients with gallbladder stones or chronic cholecystitis. In addition, if polyps in the neck of the gallbladder block the cystic duct or fall off and incarcerate in the ampulla, obstructive jaundice, biliary hemorrhage, acute cholecystitis, pancreatitis and other manifestations can also occur.

 

What are the hazards of gallbladder polyps?

The main hazard of benign gallbladder polyps is that the space-occupying effect causes gallbladder obstruction and induces acute and chronic cholecystitis.

The main hazard of malignant cholecystitis is the erosion of malignant tumors on surrounding tissues, leading to bleeding and cancer metastasis.

 

 

How to know if gallbladder polyps are benign or malignant?

To make a clear diagnosis of whether gallbladder polyps are benign or malignant, pathological examinations can only be performed after cholecystectomy.

However, due to the rapid proliferation of malignant tumor cells and the rapid growth of tumors, we can use regular follow-up and follow-up B-ultrasound to measure the size of the polyp to determine whether the polyp is cancerous or not. If a very small gallbladder polyp has not grown in size for a long time, we estimate that it is not malignant in a high probability. Of course, this method is risky and cannot be guaranteed to be 100% accurate.

 

How to treat gallbladder polyps?

As the curative effect of gallbladder cancer is currently not ideal, we recommend active surgical treatment for some gallbladder polyps to avoid the development of gallbladder cancer.

Generally speaking, if gallbladder polyps meet one of the following conditions, surgery is recommended:

  • The diameter is greater than 10mm.
  • Accompanied by gallbladder stones.
  • Polyps grow faster.
  • Cholecystitis recurred.

This is because if the gallbladder polyps grow fast or exceed 10mm in diameter, the chance of malignant transformation will be high. In addition, in the case of combined gallbladder stones, cholecystitis will occur frequently.

Gallbladder polyps that do not meet these conditions are less likely to be malignant. If there are no obvious symptoms, they generally do not need special treatment, and only need regular follow-up.

 

(source:internet, reference only)


Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org