Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Dec 24, 2021; 12(12): 1244-1263
Published online Dec 24, 2021. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i12.1244
Carcinosarcoma of gallbladder: A world review
Thomas Zheng Jie Teng, Branden Qi Yu Chua, Vishal G Shelat
Thomas Zheng Jie Teng, Branden Qi Yu Chua, Vishal G Shelat, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore 308433, Singapore
Thomas Zheng Jie Teng, Undergraduate Medicine, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore 308232, Singapore
Author contributions: Teng TZJ, Chua BQY and Shelat VG contributed to the conception of the idea and writing of the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest to declare.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Vishal G Shelat, FRCS (Gen Surg), Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jln Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433, Singapore. vgshelat@rediffmail.com
Received: March 14, 2021
Peer-review started: March 14, 2021
First decision: May 4, 2021
Revised: May 14, 2021
Accepted: November 24, 2021
Article in press: November 24, 2021
Published online: December 24, 2021
Processing time: 284 Days and 21 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Gallbladder carcinosarcoma is a rare hepatobiliary tumor comprising of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components. Due to its rarity, the literature with regards to the topic is scarce and currently lacking, spanning less than 100 cases.

AIM

To summarize the current literature on gallbladder carcinosarcoma.

METHODS

A literature review was performed on the PubMed database using the keywords “Gallbladder” AND “Carcinosarcoma” from 1970 to 2021. Additionally, similar searches were performed on MEDLINE and Web of Science.

RESULTS

Risk factors noted include female gender, gallstones and chronic cholecystitis. In the absence of any diagnostic biochemical testing or tumor markers, imaging modality serves as the key initial impression tool, which can be histologically confirmed only post-resection. While surgery is the only curative option, the use of adjunctive chemotherapy has been considered on top of excision in recent years, with some success.

CONCLUSION

While this study has taken steps to bridge the gap in the literature, more cases should be reported to further ascertain the current associations and management potential for gallbladder carcinosarcoma.

Keywords: Carcinosarcoma; Gallbladder; Gallstone; Malignancy; Carcinoma; Sarcoma

Core Tip: Gallbladder carcinosarcoma (GBCS) while rare, is an important histological subtype of gallbladder malignancy as it is associated with poor prognosis. Most GBCS patients tend to present late. As of now, the primary method of diagnosis is that of a pathological analysis with the main stay of treatment being surgical excision. Furthermore, the clinical diagnosis of GBCS remains extremely challenging given its seemingly nonspecific clinical features. We aim to provide an in-depth world review of the known cases of GBCS in order to identify unifying features of the disease and to assess effective management strategies that have been employed by clinicians.