• Gallbladder polyp (polypoid lesion): A small growth on the inside wall of the gallbladder, usually spotted by chance on an ultrasound scan.
• Rokitansky-Aschoff sinus: Tiny pouches where the gallbladder lining pushes down into the muscle wall, common in gallbladders damaged by stones and inflammation.
• Dysplasia (pre-cancerous change): Abnormal-looking cells in a surface lining that are not yet cancer but are on the way.
• Cystic duct margin: The cut end of the short duct that joined the gallbladder to the main bile duct, examined by the pathologist after a gallbladder is removed.
• Simple cholecystectomy: The standard operation to remove the gallbladder, almost always by keyhole surgery for gallstones.
• Carcinoma in situ (CIS): Cancer cells that fill the lining layer where they started but have not broken through the basement membrane into the tissue beneath.
• Radical (extended) cholecystectomy: The cancer operation for gallbladder cancer: the gallbladder (if still present) is removed together with a rim of the liver it sits against and the lymph nodes along the bile duct and liver blood vessels.

Biomarker results to ask for: Grade of dysplasia (low or high), Absence of invasion through the basement membrane (Tis) versus lamina propria invasion (T1a), Cystic duct margin status, Rokitansky-Aschoff sinus involvement, Pyloric and intestinal metaplasia in the background mucosa.

Bring copies of scan reports, pathology and blood results, and a list of every medicine and supplement.

• Tis or dysplasia with a clear cystic duct margin: No further surgery; follow-up because occasional late recurrences reflect a field effect. (Simple cholecystectomy, Cystic duct margin)
• Positive cystic duct margin or Rokitansky-Aschoff sinus involvement: Consider bile duct margin re-excision or further surgery at a hepatobiliary centre. (Cystic duct margin, Rokitansky-Aschoff sinus, Radical (extended) cholecystectomy)
• Gallbladder polyp in primary sclerosing cholangitis: Cholecystectomy advised for polyps of any size by international guidelines; a 2020 cohort supports short-interval imaging first when no high-risk feature is present. (Gallbladder polyp (polypoid lesion), Simple cholecystectomy)

From the standard of care recorded for this cancer; which apply depends on your stage and biomarkers. Ask which the team recommends and why.