The pattern of clinicopathologic presentation of gall bladder cancer patients managed at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a retrospective cross-sectional study.
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare tumor with a very poor prognosis. It is often incidentally
found during routine cholecystectomy for gall stone or diagnosed at the advanced clinical stage at the time
of presentation. In Ethiopia, no published data assessed the clinicopathologic presentation and the
management approach of patients with gall bladder cancer.
Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the pattern of clinicopathologic presentation of
gallbladder cancer patients managed at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital from April 1, 2018, to March
31, 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: Facility based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on the pattern of
clinicopathologic presentation of gallbladder cancer patients managed at Tikur Anbessa Specialized
Hospital from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Secondary data were extracted
from patients’ clinical charts and recorded to a pre-tested checklist. Data was entered into epidata version
3.1 and exported to SPSS version 26 for descriptive analysis using frequency tables, mean, median and
standard deviations.
Result: During the study period a total 70 gallbladder cancer cases were studied. The mean age at
presentation was 56.5 ± 12.2 years and most of the patients were females with a 1.9:1 F: M ratio. The Most
(82.9%) common presenting feature was abdominal pain with a median duration of symptoms of 3months
(IQR 5.7 months). About 12.8% of patients were found incidentally. Close to half (47.2%) of the patients
were having metastasis, with liver involvement accounting for 63.6% and non-regional nodes for 30.3% of
metastasis. The remaining 31.4% were resectable and 21.4% of patients were locally unresectable. GB mass
lesion is the most frequent imaging feature while gallstones were detected in 50% of cases. Surgical
exploration was performed in 35.7% of patients, the rest majority were managed with supportive care
(35.7%) and palliative chemotherapy (18.6%). Adenocarcinoma was the commonest histologic type
identified (94.4%).
Conclusion: - The prevalence of concomitant gallstones in this study was low compared to other studies.
Most of the patients were having either locally advanced or metastatic gall bladder cancer. It requires a high
index of suspicion and appropriate imaging in middle age individuals and above who presented with
persistent abdominal pain to diagnose gall bladder cancer at the early curative stage
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Keywords
Clinicopathologic presentation, Risk factors, Gallbladder Cancer