Iterative surgical resection of a recurrent gallbladder carcinoma with long-term survival: report of a case.

Gallbladder carcinoma is a rare, but often lethal disease. Unfortunately, at the time of diagnosis, patients usually have advanced disease (T3-T4) and long-term survival is dismal, ranging from 5 to 12% in the literature. However, this cancer can be successfully treated when the tumour is organ-confined (T1-T2 tumours), as happens in the case of incidental diagnosis at the time of cholecystectomy for gallstones. Here we describe a patient with recurrent gallbladder carcinoma who, treated with iterative surgical resection, is alive and disease-free at 5 years after the final surgical procedure.