Therapeutic response analysis for patients with adenosquamous carcinoma of the gallbladder: data analysis based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database

BACKGROUND: Adenosquamous carcinoma of the gallbladder (GBASC) is a rare histological variant without defined appropriate clinical measures. METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, data on a cohort of patients with GBASC were collected from 21 cancer registries between 1975 and 2018. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatment regimens on patients with GBASC. Then we used Cox proportional hazards regression method to determine the prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival (CSS) of GBASC patients. RESULTS: A total of 388 patients with GBASC were identified: 80 patients diagnosed as early stage and 308 patients diagnosed as advanced stage. For early-stage GBASC, radical lymph node dissection improved the CSS significantly; for advanced-stage GBASC, radical surgery, nonradical surgery, lymph node dissection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy improved the CSS significantly. Surgery, lymph node dissection, radiation, chemotherapy, age, race, and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage were the independent risk factors for the CSS of GBASC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Radical intraoperative lymph node dissection provided a survival benefit for patients with early-stage GBASC, whereas chemotherapy and radiotherapy provided no significant benefit; surgical treatment, more complete lymph node dissection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy provided survival benefits for patients with advanced GBASC. The prognosis for GBASC patients is affected by the factors of surgery, lymph node dissection, radiation, chemotherapy, age, race, and the AJCC stage.