A Long-term Survival Case of Carcinosarcoma of the Gallbladder with Chondroid Differentiation after Surgical Curative Resection

Yukiyasu Okamura, Kiyoshi Ishigure²⁾, Tadao Ishikawa, Yoshikuni Inokawa, Takashi Sugae, Tsunenobu Takase, Shigeki Nakayama, Toyohisa Yaguchi, Akio Harada and Takaaki Nakamura¹⁾

Department of Surgery and Department of Pathology¹⁾, Kainan General Hospital
Department of Surgery, Showa General Hospital²⁾

A 60-year-old woman was admitted to hospital after complaining of a right upper quadrant pain and vomiting. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed an irregular tumor in the gallbladder. We diagnosed the patient as having carcinoma of the gallbladder with subserosal invasion and performed an extended cholecystectomy. Histologically, the tumor consisted of adenocarcinoma and sarcomatous tumor cells with a spindle shape and partial chondroid differentiation. Immunohistochemically, the sarcomatous element was negative for an epithelial marker and positive for an interstitial marker; thus, the lesion was diagnosed as a true carcinosarcoma. Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder is rare, and few cases with long-term survival have been reported. We report a patient with a carinosarcoma of the gallbladder who is alive with no signs of recurrence 54 months after surgery.

Key words
carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder, chondroid differentiation, long-term survival

Reprint requests
Yukiyasu Okamura Department of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center
1007 Shimonagakubo, Nagaizumi-cho, Shunto-gun, 411-8777 JAPAN

Accepted
February 22, 2006

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