As a common malignant tumor, gallbladder cancer, although extremely harmful, is very "low-key" in the early stage, often mistaken for gallstone or cholecystitis, and many patients miss the opportunity for treatment. So, what is gallbladder cancer? Why is it not easy to find? What symptoms do you need to be alert to?
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On February 14, 2017, Xu Peng, director of the Medical Imaging Center of Anhui Woyang County People's Hospital, said to reporters, "In the past, like gallbladder cancer, we all asked patients to be transferred to another hospital. Now through image upload, our county hospitals can also do surgery!" (Photo of Li Bo/People)
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First, let's take a look at gallbladder cancer. Tang Qibin, deputy chief physician of the Department of Biliary and Pancreatic Surgery of Sun Yat sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat sen University, said that gallbladder cancer is a malignant tumor that occurs in the gallbladder mucosa and is one of the common malignant tumors of the digestive tract. Its pathogenesis is hidden and invasive, and the 5-year survival rate of patients is less than 5%. Gallbladder cancer accounts for 2/3 of biliary system tumors, and its incidence is increasing year by year.
Why? Is gallbladder cancer not easy to find? Zhang Hongyi, Director of Hepatobiliary Surgery Department of the PLA Air Force General Hospital, pointed out that the gallbladder is not very sensitive to pain, and patients with early gallbladder cancer basically do not have obvious symptoms. Even if there are pain symptoms, it is easy to mistake them for gallstones or cholecystitis. In addition, one of the reasons for the occurrence of gallbladder cancer is that the gallbladder is chronically stimulated, but the medical diagnosis of gallbladder cancer is lack of specific indicators, and it is not easy to diagnose.
Although gallbladder cancer is hidden, there are still "clues" in its early stage. We must be alert:
1. Digestive tract symptoms. Patients with early gallbladder cancer may have some digestive tract symptoms, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and discomfort in the right upper abdomen. If no other digestive tract diseases other than gallbladder diseases are found at this time, it is necessary to doubt whether the gallbladder has a problem and receive timely examination.
2. Pain in the right upper abdomen. If there is pain in the right upper abdomen, dull pain, distention pain or colic, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, etc., you should go to the hospital in time. If the patient has gallbladder disease in the past, and the pain in the right upper abdomen changes from intermittent to continuous, he should be more alert to whether he has gallbladder cancer.
3. For patients over 50 years old with chronic cholecystitis or cholecystolithiasis, if the original symptoms worsen or attack frequently, they should seek medical advice in time.
4. Those who have suffered from cholecystitis, gallbladder stones or gallbladder polyps in the past, and who have recently suffered from fatigue and emaciation with digestive tract symptoms of unknown causes, should also seek medical advice in a timely manner.
Qu Bo, chief physician of general surgery department of Yangtze River Shipping General Hospital and part-time professor of Wuhan University School of Medicine, scientifically checked this article.
(Editor in charge: Zhao Peng, Zhang Xi)
