Be alert to gallbladder stones inducing gallbladder cancer! Although 68-year-old Auntie Zhang has a history of gallbladder stones for many years, she has always been in good mental condition and occasionally suffers from gallbladder inflammation. It was not until the latest gallstones caused acute severe pancreatitis, in the doctor’s active treatment, Zhang Auntie back from death, and finally in the doctor’s persuasion, Zhang Auntie and family finally agreed to do surgery to remove the gallbladder. It was thought that the disease was completely cured this time, but the pathology results came out and confirmed that the gallbladder tissue had become cancerous, so Zhang’s family was very sad and regretted… Patients like Zhang are not uncommon, and the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery treats several cases of cancer caused by stones every year. As a common disease, gallbladder stones are often neglected by people who think that they can be cured with injections and medication, and only choose surgery when the inflammation becomes more and more serious and the abdominal pain is difficult to control with medication. If gallbladder stones are not treated in time, it will not only increase the pain of patients and the difficulty of surgical treatment, but also may cause cancer. Not all gallbladder stones will eventually lead to gallbladder cancer, but some data show that more than 90% of gallbladder cancer patients are accompanied by gallbladder stones. Long-term gallbladder stones often cause gallbladder atrophy and calcification, and the incidence of gallbladder cancer is higher in patients with calcified gallbladder or porcelain-like gallbladder. Due to the changes in people’s work and rest patterns and dietary structure, the incidence of gallbladder stones and gallbladder cancer in China has continued to rise in recent years, with the current incidence of gallbladder stones reaching 3% to 10% and thousands of new gallbladder cancer patients each year, which are 1 to 2 times higher than 10 years ago. At present, 2 to 3 cases of gallbladder stones are found to be cancerous in the general surgery department of the Fourth People’s Hospital of Sichuan Province every year, which is 2 to 3 times more than a few years ago. Gallbladder cancer is highly malignant, metastasizes early, progresses fast, and spreads easily, and early cancerous lesions have no specific symptoms and are not easily distinguished from chronic inflammatory diseases in imaging, making early diagnosis difficult. In recent years, although technology is advancing, there is not much breakthrough in medical diagnosis and treatment of gallbladder cancer, and the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced stage is less than 5%. “Upper medicine treats the untreated disease”. For ordinary people, prevention of diseases is very important, and it is very important to change the diet structure and reasonably regulate the rhythm of life to reduce the occurrence of gallbladder cancer. Be alert to the signs of cancer Surgical resection is the preferred treatment for gallbladder cancer and the only possible way to cure it. But unfortunately, there is no specific clinical manifestation of gallbladder cancer in the early stage, once persistent pain, masses and jaundice in the upper abdomen appear, the disease has reached the middle and late stage, and most of them cannot be removed and cured, so the key to treating gallbladder cancer is early diagnosis. Although the clinical manifestations of gallbladder cancer lack specificity, there are traces to be found, such as: 1. Gastrointestinal symptoms Clinically, it has been found that patients with early-stage gallbladder cancer will show some digestive symptoms, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and right upper abdominal discomfort. At this time, if no other digestive tract disease other than gallbladder disease is found, it should be alerted whether there is something wrong with gallbladder. 2.Pain in the right upper abdomen. If there is pain in the right upper abdomen in the form of dull pain, distension or colic, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, you should go to the hospital in time to find out the cause of the disease so as not to delay the diagnosis. If the patient has been diagnosed with gallbladder disease in the past and the pain in the right upper abdomen turns from intermittent to persistent and the effect of medication becomes worse, then one should be alert to the possibility of gallbladder cancer. 3. Patients over 50 years old with chronic cholecystitis or gallbladder stones, if their original symptoms worsen or have frequent attacks, as well as those with previous cholecystitis, gallbladder stones or gallbladder polyps, and those with recent unexplained weakness and wasting with gastrointestinal symptoms, should promptly seek medical attention for comprehensive examination. Some data show that patients over 50 years old account for 2/3 of gallbladder cancer patients. Ultrasound is currently the preferred method for screening early diagnosis of gallbladder cancer. Gallbladder cancer should be highly suspected if the following conditions appear in the examination: gallbladder polyps >1cm in diameter with wider base or faster increase in size on review; irregular thickening of gallbladder wall >0.5cm or calcified spots; unclear outline of gallbladder or irregular boundary, etc. For patients with discomfort or pain in the gallbladder area, especially middle-aged and elderly patients over 50 years old with gallbladder stones, inflammation and gallbladder polyps >1cm, the gallbladder should be surgically removed as early as possible to prevent cancer; for patients who do not want to undergo surgery, they should also have regular ultrasound, CT and tumor marker examinations, and be treated as early as possible once cancer is suspected.