Gender-specific prognostic markers of patients with gallbladder cancer after surgical resection

The aim of this study was to elucidate gender-specific markers for postresectional long-term survival of gallbladder cancer (GBC) based on a cohort of Chinese patients. Clinicopathological records of 81 patients (27 males and 54 females) after surgical resection for GBC were reviewed retrospectively. The influence of each variable on survival was determined using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. For females, Cox regression analysis was also adopted. Univariate analysis showed that the absence of lymph node and distant metastases, differentiation grade, and curative resection were associated with prolonged survival for all males, whereas tumor size, differentiation grade, and the presence of lymph node metastases influenced the overall or disease-free survival of patients after curative resection (all P < 0.05). On the other hand, Nevin stage was an independent marker for both overall survival for all females and overall and disease-free survival for female patients who underwent curative resection. Additionally, resection type and differentiation grade were of independent prognostic significance for different subgroups of females (all P < 0.05). Our data suggested that tumor-related factors affect prognosis of both male and female patients with GBC after resection. Of these factors, tumor differentiation status might be more significant for males, but Nevin stage had a stronger predictive potential for females.