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4 slides generated from the cancer page, with a quiz from the open benchmark and speaker notes that cite the sources. Arrow keys move between slides; Print gives one slide per page.
Mucinous carcinoma is a rare gallbladder cancer in which the cancer cells sit in pools of mucus that make up more than half the tumour. It affects men almost as often as women, is larger than usual at diagnosis, and often presents like an acute gallbladder attack. It is staged and treated like other gallbladder adenocarcinomas.
The WHO defines mucinous carcinoma by extracellular (stromal) mucin forming more than 50 percent of the tumour. In the only sizeable series, 606 invasive gallbladder carcinomas were reviewed: 40 (6.6 percent) showed some mucinous differentiation and 15 (2.5 percent) met the definition. Mean age was 65; the female to male ratio was 1.1, against 3.9 for conventional pancreatobiliary-type adenocarcinoma; two thirds (8 of 12 with records) presented with a clinical picture and operative findings read as acute cholecystitis; and the tumours were larger (mean 4.8 cm and median 3.4 cm, against 2.9 and 2.5 cm) (Dursun 2012). Cancer Research UK describes the type simply as cancer cells often lying in pools of mucus. Mucin in Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses can mimic mucinous carcinoma and is a recognised pathology pitfall (Albores-Saavedra 2009).
What differs in treatment: nothing formally. There is no type-specific trial evidence, so mucinous carcinoma is staged by TNM 8th edition and treated as gallbladder adenocarcinoma: radical cholecystectomy where resectable, adjuvant capecitabine, and gemcitabine and cisplatin with immunotherapy for advanced disease. The practical differences are the larger size and inflammatory presentation, which raise the chance that the cancer is unsuspected at the first operation, and the pathology pitfall above.
| Setting | Approach | Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| All stages | As for gallbladder adenocarcinoma: radical cholecystectomy where resectable, capecitabine after resection, gemcitabine and cisplatin with immunotherapy when advanced. | not mapped |