Surgical Gastroenterology department at our institute is a tertiary referral center for hepatobiliary malignancies; covering a large part of North and North-east India. The details and progress reports of patients of Gallbladder Cancer (GBC) being referred to and treated at the institute is maintained in a prospective manner on hospital data base. This includes demographic data, presenting complains, details of relevant investigations done outside and in the hospital, previous surgery, pre-hospital course, operative findings, post operative course and final histopathology. Being a retrospective analysis of data not affecting clinical outcomes, ethical approval was not taken. During the study period (Jan 2009 to Dec 2018), 1049 participants with diagnosis of GBC (including 91 IGBC participants) were admitted; 239/958 participants with diagnosis of GBC and 48/91 with diagnosis of GBC could undergo resection with curative intent. Information regarding adjuvant therapy, recurrence, and survival were retrieved through data maintained on follow up out-patient cards till December 2019. Few participants who stopped visiting the hospital were contacted telephonically or through letters. All available histopathology blocks and slides following the index cholecystectomy were re-reviewed by the pathologists in the institute. Tumor type, differentiation and primary T stage were documented for majority of cases. Interval between index cholecystectomy and date of re-operation was calculated for all the participants and divided into 3 groups: Early (<4weeks), Intermediate (4-12 weeks) and Late (>12 weeks). Primary objective was to assess the effect of tumor characteristics and the time gap (between index surgery and re-resection) on overall survival following curative (R0/R1) resection.
Various factors determine the long term survival in this non-uniform cohort of incidental gallbladder cancer. Timing of re-intervention is suggested to play an important role in the outcome. Few centers are proponents of early surgery in order to prevent dissemination, while others have suggested an intentional delay of 3 months to filter out cases with aggressive pathology. In the present study, investigators intend to evaluate the factors affecting survival in incidental Gallbladder Cancer (IGBC) with special reference to timing of re-intervention.