Incidental small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder - an unexpected finding at elective cholecystectomy

Abstract

A 69-year-old woman was admitted electively for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Pre-operatively she had an ultrasound abdomen which demonstrated a large gallbladder (GB) stone. Intraoperatively, a nodule was noted on the liver supero-lateral to GB. The procedure was subsequently converted to open and the lesion was resected en-bloc with GB. The histology result showed small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the gallbladder with invasion into the liver parenchyma. A staging computerized tomographic of the thorax, abdomen and pelvis was performed. This demonstrated enlarged adenopathy locally and systemically with metastasis to medial segment of the left hepatic lobe and right lung. Following multi-disciplinary team meeting she was referred to Oncology for chemotherapy. The patient has survived for 7 months after the initial diagnosis of SCC.