Epidemiology and treatment outcomes of gallbladder cancer in Finland – a nationwide study

BACKGROUND: Few population-based studies exist for gallbladder cancer (GBC). This study explored incidence, diagnostics, treatment, and survival of patients with GBC in a national cohort. METHODS: Patients with GBC during 2006-2019 in Finland were included from Finnish Cancer Registry with manual patient data verification. RESULTS: GBC was diagnosed in 1183 patients. Overall incidence was 1.56:100,000 and it decreased over time (from 1.81 to 1.35, p < 0.001). For detailed analysis, 1016 patients were included. The proportion of patients with T2-T3 increased (from 46 % to 65 %; p < 0.001) and T4 decreased (from 35 % to 18 %; p < 0.001). Similarly, the proportion of patients with stage IVA decreased (from 10 % to 4 %, p = 0.002) and stage II increased (from 12 % to 20 %, p = 0.006). In total, 185 (18 %) patients underwent curative-intent surgery with a 92 % R0 resection rate. The proportion of curative-intent surgery increased (from 15 % to 23 %, p = 0.013), as well as use of adjuvant (from 19 % to 54 %, p < 0.001) and systemic chemotherapy (from 31.4 % to 42.1 %, p = 0.014). Median overall survival was 7 months and 5-year overall survival 14 %, which improved during the study period (from 12 % to 14 %, p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The incidence of GBC decreased, and overall survival improved, likely due to increased surgical and oncological treatments.