Systematic review of squamous cell carcinoma of the gallbladder.

BACKGROUND

Although gallbladder cancer is the most common biliary tract malignancy, squamous cell carcinoma of the gallbladder (GBSCC) is extremely uncommon, comprising approximately 1-4% of all malignant gallbladder tumors. Given its rare incidence, there are currently no established treatment guidelines for GBSCC.

METHODS

We reviewed the current data available through a comprehensive search of PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase.

RESULTS

Although the clinical presentations of GBSCC and gallbladder adenocarcinoma (GBAC) are similar, GBSCCs are oftentimes larger and present with a higher histologic grade and more advanced pathological stage. Due to these aggressive features, the overall prognosis of GBSCC is significantly worse than GBAC, even after R0 resection.

CONCLUSION

A combination of radical cholecystectomy with negative surgical margins along with systemic chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy appears to be the best treatment strategy based on the current limited literature. Mutational profiling using next-generation sequencing (NGS) can help clinicians identify and treat actionable mutations of this rare tumor.