The gallbladder is a very small organ underneath the liver. It is close to the pancreas and stomachGallbladder cancer is cancer in any part of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small organ at the top of your tummy. It main function is to store bile that is secreted into the small bowel where it helps the body to digest food. 

About gallbladder cancer

Gallbladder cancer develops due to accumulated alterations in the DNA of the cells in the gallbladder. (DNA is the genetic material that tells cells what to do.) As these faulty cells divide and multiply, they eventually cause a cancer. 

People with gallbladder cancer may only realise they have it when being treated for another condition such as gallstones. 

Anyone can get gallbladder cancer but you may be more at risk if you:

  • Are aged 75 or over – it is most common in people aged over 85
  • Are a woman
  • Have certain medical conditions such as gallstones, diabetes, growths (polyps) in your gallbladder, porcelain gallbladder, abnormal bile ducts, or long-term swelling of the gallbladder or bile ducts
  • Have a brother, sister or parent who had gallbladder cancer 
  • Have Latin American or Asian heritage

You can reduce your risk by:

  • Losing weight if you are overweight
  • Stopping smoking
  • Reducing alcohol intake

Symptoms of gallbladder cancer may not be obvious or you may have no symptoms at all. 

Symptoms can include:

  • Whites of your eyes turning yellow or your skin turning yellow (jaundice) – this may be less obvious on brown or black skin
  • Itchy skin, darker pee and paler poo than usual
  • Loss of appetite or losing weight without trying
  • Feeling tired or having no energy
  • Having a high temperature or feeling hot or shivery 

Sometimes gallbladder cancer can affect your digestion and cause symptoms including:

  • Feeling or being sick
  • Swollen tummy not related to when you eat
  • Aching pain in the right side of your tummy, sometimes described as a “dragging feeling”
  • Sharp pain in your tummy

If you have another condition such as irritable bowel syndrome, you may get symptoms like these regularly. 

But it is important to see a health professional if you have symptoms or changes in your body that are unusual for you. 

Ask for an urgent GP appointment, call 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk if:

  • Your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow
  • You're being sick for more than 2 days
  • You have symptoms of gallbladder cancer that you’re worried about, but are not sure where to get help

See a GP if you have:

  • A lump in your tummy
  • Lost a noticeable amount of weight
  • symptoms of gallbladder cancer, such as pain or swelling in your tummy, that get worse or do not get better after 2 weeks
  • A condition that causes symptoms with your digestion, and your symptoms are not getting better after 2 weeks using your usual treatments

Treatment depends on a range of factors including the type, size, stage and location of your tumour. It may also depend on your age, general health and genetic factors (linked to the DNA changes in your cells) that tell us how your cancer developed. 

Treatment options can include one or more of the following:

  • Surgery – this may be before, during or after other treatments
  • Drug therapies such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The general term for these is systemic anti-cancer therapies (SACT)
  • Radiotherapy

When you are diagnosed, your care will be discussed at a multidisciplinary team meeting (MDT) where different specialists will consider the best treatment options for you. Your doctor will discuss this with you so you can decide what is right for you.

Sometimes it might be decided that none of the above treatment options are appropriate for you, usually if your disease is very advanced. Your care will be palliative – concentrating on your quality of life and symptom management – and will be led by your community team of your GP, district nurses and palliative care team. 

Genomics and cancer

Genomics is the study of a person’s genes (or ‘genome’) – the material in DNA that makes each person unique. Cancer is caused by changes in the DNA of a cell and tell it to multiply out of control. 

Understanding where this change has occurred – for example, which gene is faulty – can help us know which treatment will give you the best chance of killing the cancer cells and stopping new ones from growing. 

Your clinical team will explain this to you in more detail at your appointment. 

Our treatments

At The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, we provide specialist non-surgical treatment for gallbladder cancer. We also work closely with other specialists and surgical teams in other hospitals to plan and coordinate your care every step of the way. 

Systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT)

SACT is a term used to describe the different drug therapies for cancer. These include: 

  • Chemotherapy – which aims to kill cancer cells
  • Immunotherapy – which aims to train your immune system to attack cancer 
  • Targeted therapies – which aim to target specific identified molecules in the cell that has caused cancer. 

The treatments we offer for gallbladder cancer include:

Chemotherapy

You might have chemotherapy as:

  • Treatment for gallbladder cancer that can be removed: You might have chemotherapy after your surgery, to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.
  • Treatment for gallbladder cancer that cannot be removed or has come back (recurrence): The aim of chemotherapy is to try to control the cancer, slow its growth and to relieve any symptoms you may have.

Because different cancers are sensitive to different chemotherapy drugs, everyone’s treatment plan is designed according to the specific type of cancer. Your general health and fitness is also important when deciding on your treatment plan. 

For more information on chemotherapy click here.

Targeted therapy

This may be used in a small group of patients with specific genetic mutations. These drugs can be used to treat some advanced gallbladder cancers that cannot be removed by surgery or have spread to distant areas after at least one line of previous chemotherapy treatment. 

Immunotherapy

You may be able to have immunotherapy in addition to chemotherapy if you have locally advanced or advanced (metastatic) gallbladder cancer. Your doctor will tell you if this is suitable for you or not.

In some cases, where your cancer has a specific genetic profile, it can also be given on its own (following at least one line of previous chemotherapy) or as part of a clinical trial.

All treatment options will be discussed with you at your outpatient appointment.

Find out more about systemic anti-cancer therapy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. 

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy can sometimes be used as a complement to surgery and systemic treatment, either to the primary tumour in the gallbladder itself, or to metastatic (secondary) tumours in other parts of the body.

We use different types of radiotherapy, depending on the type, size, location and stage of the cancer. 

The radiotherapy treatments we offer for gallbladder cancer include:

  • Traditional external beam radiotherapy – where radiation is delivered from outside the body
  • Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) – a way of very precisely targeting radiotherapy to certain cancers

Find out more about radiotherapy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. 

Clinical trials

Research and trials of new cancer treatments are an important part of our work. Your consultant will tell you about any clinical trials that may be suitable for you.

You are also very welcome to ask us about clinical trials during your appointments. We will be happy to answer any questions you have. 

Find out more about clinical trials. 

Treatment locations

We have a multi-site model where we visit hospitals across Cheshire and Merseyside to provide treatment and consultations closer to patients’ homes. 

We provide systemic anti-cancer therapies (e.g. chemotherapy, targeted therapies and immunotherapy) for breast cancer at the following sites:

We provide radiotherapy for gallbladder cancer in two of our specialist sites:

Clinical trials for gallbladder cancer are delivered at most of our sites. Some trials may only be available at our main hospital: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool.

The team consists of medical oncologists, advanced nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, radiographers, pharmacy, research practitioners and administrative support. 

Our operational management team makes sure the service runs smoothly.

Consultants 

Medical Oncologists

Professor Dan Palmer
Dr Olusola Faluyi
Dr Nils Elander

Nurses 

Advanced Nurse Practitioners

Sarah Stevenson
Diane Foster

Clinical Nurse Specialists

Abbey Phudaphatt
Alison Griffin

Cancer Support Worker

Sarah Wallace

Other team members

Dietitian

Lauren Roberts

HPB nursing and support team

Virtual tour of Radiotherapy unit (CCC-Liverpool)

Our Cancer Information and Support Centres can provide individualised help and support for patients and families affected by cancer. The team’s main base is in Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool but they also work at our Aintree and Wirral hospitals.

There are also local Macmillan services in other hospitals across our region.

External sites that offer extra support and information about gallbladder cancer include: