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Gallbladder: Patients
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Different types of treatments are available for patients with gallbladder cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. Before starting treatment, patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment.
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Abdominal radiography may be the initial examination for a patient with gallbladder carcinoma who presents with abdominal distension or right upper quadrant pain. Calcified gallstones or a porcelain gallbladder may be present (Fig 10). In rare cases, calcification precipitating in mucus within the neoplastic glandular tissue may ... be visible on radiographs (40), and it is analogous to calcium deposition in adenocarcinomas of the colon and stomach. Abnormal collections of gas in the right upper quadrant may be visible on radiographs when the tumor has invaded adjacent bowel and a fistula has formed (Fig 11). In some cases, gas may also be present in the biliary tree.
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CUPERTINO, Calif., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a surgeon at Drexel University College of Medicine successfully removed a woman's gallbladder through a single incision in the patient's belly button. The single port access (SPA) SM surgery was performed by Paul G. Curcillo II, M.D. FACS, Associate Professor and Vice-Chair of the department of surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine and Director of Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery. The entire procedure was done with only one incision and left the patient with a hidden scar. It is believed to be the world's first single port laparoscopic gallbladder removal procedure.
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A gallbladder nuclear medicine scan may be used to diagnose gallstones, blockage of the bile duct or other abnormalities, and to assess gallbladder functioning and inflammation (cholecystitis). The scan is usually performed in a hospital or clinical radiology department. The patient lies on an examination table while a small amount of radioactive dye is injected into a vein in the arm. This dye circulates through the blood and collects in the gallbladder. As the dye moves through the gallbladder, a series of pictures is taken using a special camera called a scintillation or gamma camera. This procedure produces images that look like x rays.
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Doctors and scientists are always looking for better ways to treat patients with gallbladder cancer. A clinical trial is a way to test a new treatment in order to prove that it is safe, effective, and possibly better than a standard treatment. Patients who participate in clinical trials are among the first to receive new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs, before they are widely available. However, there is no guarantee that the new treatment will be safe, effective, or better than a standard treatment.
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The prognosis for any treated cancer patient with progressing or recurrent gallbladder cancer is poor. The question and selection of further treatment depends on many factors: tumor burden, prior treatment, site of recurrence, and individual patient considerations. Patients may have portal hypertension caused by portal vein compression by the tumor. Transperitoneal and intrahepatic metastases are not uncommon. Clinical trials are appropriate and should be considered when possible. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.
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