Successful multimodality treatment of metastatic gallbladder cancer: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Gallbladder cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the biliary system, and it is characterized by high aggressiveness and an extremely poor prognosis. Current treatment for advanced gallbladder cancer remains unsatisfactory. Here, we report a patient with advanced gallbladder cancer who was cured by multidisciplinary treatment. CASE SUMMARY: A 73-year-old male presented to our hospital with right abdominal pain for 3 d and was diagnosed with stage IVB gallbladder cancer with multiple liver metastases, peritoneum metastasis, diaphragm metastasis and lymph node metastases. The patient initially received chemotherapy, targeted therapy, (125)I seed implantation and immunotherapy, as there were no specific indications for radical surgery. During these palliative therapies, the level of tumor markers gradually decreased but remained higher than the normal level, lymph node metastases gradually disappeared, and liver metastasis was gradually limited to the left liver. Finally, the patient received radical surgery with left hepatectomy, radical lymphadenectomy and partial diaphragmatic resection. To date, the patient has survived for more than six years posttreatment, the levels of tumor markers are normal, and imaging examinations show no signs of tumor recurrence. CONCLUSION: Currently, the prognosis of advanced gallbladder cancer remains unsatisfactory. A single treatment method is not sufficient for patients with advanced gallbladder cancer. Multidisciplinary individualized treatment is essential and should be utilized for advanced gallbladder cancer patients to further improve prognosis.