Metachronous double cancer of the gallbladder and common bile duct

J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2004;11(4):280-5. doi: 10.1007/s00534-003-0880-5.

Abstract

We report a rare case of metachronous double cancer of the biliary tract. At age 59 years, a man had undergone a cholecystectomy and resection of the liver bed for gallbladder cancer pathologically diagnosed as papillary adenocarcinoma, in 1997. Four years later, he was admitted to our hospital with jaundice. At first, we suspected lymph node metastasis of the gallbladder cancer along the common bile duct. But abdominal computed tomography demonstrated circular wall thickness of the common bile duct, so primary bile duct cancer was strongly suspected. Thus, extended right hepatectomy and pancreaticoduodenectomy were performed after right portal vein embolization. The pathological diagnosis of the resected specimen was well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, and this case was clarified to be metachronous double cancer. A review of the literature regarding double cancer of the biliary tract is presented following this case report. We showed that half of 30 cases of double cancer of the biliary tract were not associated with pancreaticobiliary maljunction, including all 6 metachronous cases.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnosis*
  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma, Papillary* / diagnostic imaging
  • Adenocarcinoma, Papillary* / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma, Papillary* / surgery
  • Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde
  • Cholecystectomy
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / pathology
  • Common Bile Duct Neoplasms / surgery
  • Gallbladder Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
  • Gallbladder Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Gallbladder Neoplasms* / surgery
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / diagnostic imaging
  • Neoplasms, Second Primary / pathology