Background: Reports utilizing data from the Commission on Cancer's National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) have previously contained evaluations of time trends for stage of disease at diagnosis, treatment, and survival for multiple tumor sites. Data collected from 1989, 1990, 1994, and 1995 for carcinoma of the gallbladder are presented herein.

Methods: The data presented in this review were collected from hospital cancer registries from across the U.S. Seven calls for data yielded a total of 5,850,000 cases for the years 1985-1995, including 2574 gallbladder carcinoma cases from 1989-1990 and 2914 cases from 1994-1995 from hospital cancer registries across the U.S. These data represent approximately 8.8% and 8.4% of the estimated cases of liver and biliary track cancers diagnosed in the U.S. during the two respective time periods.

Results: There were no changes in patient demographics between 1989-1990 and 1994-1995. Most gallbladder carcinoma patients were white women. The documentation of tumor stage improved noticeably between the two study periods. There was no increased frequency in the occurrence of early stage tumors between the two reporting times, an era that saw the development and widespread application of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Treatment differed according to stage of disease. Surgery alone, particularly nonradical surgery, was performed more frequently in the initial treatment of gallbladder carcinoma. A large percentage of gallbladder carcinoma patients received no definitive therapeutic intervention because of the advanced stage of disease at presentation and the lack of effective treatments for these cancers. Multimodality treatment was utilized more often for young patients. Survival was closely related to tumor stage, with 60% 5-year survival for Stage 0 patients, 39% for Stage I patients, and 15% for Stage II patients, but only 5% for Stage III patients and 1% for Stage IV patients. Patient outcome was not demonstrably affected by more aggressive therapy, nor was an adverse effect in results seen in early stage cancers between 1989-1990 and 1994-1995.

Conclusions: The NCDB data are valuable in the evaluation of trends in malignant diseases, treatments, and patient survival. No substantial differences were apparent in the diagnosis, treatment, and survival of patients during this 7-year study period. The data do not support any adverse effect on outcome results with the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the U.S.