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The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates for cancer
of the gallbladder and bile ducts in the United States are for 2009:
- about 9,760 new cases will be diagnosed
- about 3,370 people will die of these cancers
Of these new cases more than half (about 60% or around 6,000
cases) are gallbladder cancer. The number of deaths in the United
States from gallbladder cancer has been dropping slightly over the last
couple of decades.
Gallbladder cancer is not usually found until it has become
advanced and causes symptoms. Only about 1 out of 5 gallbladder cancers
is found in the early stages, where the cancer has not yet spread
beyond the gallbladder.
The chances of survival for patients with gallbladder cancer
depend to a large extent on how advanced it is when it is found. For
statistics on survival rates, see the section, "How
is gallbladder cancer staged?"
Last Medical Review: 11/02/2009
Last Revised: 11/02/2009
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