Aggressive Therapy is Warranted for Gallbladder Cancer

Untreated gallbladder cancer is a rapidly fatal disease. Over the years, however, the benefit of aggressive surgical therapy for this disease has been debated. This debate stems from the fact that gallbladder cancer is often metastatic to regional nodes and invasive of the liver at the time of discovery. Complete resection of this tumor, therefore, requires extensive procedures that, until recently, were associated with a very high morbidity and mortality. In this issue Maibenco et al. summarize the changing attitudes about this cancer. Their major message that radical resection of gallbladder cancers can provide long-term survival and cure deserves emphasis.