Comparative Analysis between Clinical Outcomes of Primary Radical Resection and Second Completion Radical Resection for T2 Gallbladder Cancer: Single-center Experience

Background Gallbladder (GB) cancer may be discovered incidentally by histopathologic examination following simple cholecystectomy. Incidental GB cancer >= T2 or >= N1 needs a second radical resection. It is a matter of concern whether the prognosis may be worse in patients with T2GB cancer who undergo a second radical resection than in those who undergo primary radical resection. Methods Between March 2001 and March 2009, 21 patients underwent a one-step operation (OSO group), and 17 patients underwent a two-step operation (TSO group) for T2GB cancer. We compared clinicopathologic factors and survival between patients in the OSO group (n = 9) and those in the TSO group (n = 9) with T2NOMO GB cancer and between patients in the OSO group (n = 12) and those in the TSO group (n = 8) with T2N1M0 GB cancer. Results Except for patient age, clinicopathologic factors as well as disease-free survival were not significantly different between the OSO group and the TSO group in the aforementioned cancer stages. Patient age was significantly higher in the OSO group than in the TSO group. Conclusions Second completion radical resection following initial simple cholecystectomy (TSO) provided a survival benefit similar to that of primary radical surgery (OSO) for patients with both T2NOMO and T2N1M0 GB cancers in our study.