What are the early detection methods for gallbladder cancer

What are the early detection methods for gallbladder cancer? Some patients know that they have gallbladder problems, but they ignore treatment because they don't like going to the hospital, which may lead to gallbladder cancer. Gallbladder cancer can easily cause death, so patients need to be checked in time after they have gallbladder cancer. So, what are the clinical detection methods for gallbladder cancer? The following is a detailed explanation by experts.

1.B Ultrasound examination

B-ultrasound examination is simple, non-destructive, and can be used repeatedly, making it the preferred examination method. Endoscopic ultrasound uses a high-frequency probe to scan the gallbladder only through the stomach or duodenal wall, which significantly increases the detection rate of gallbladder cancer and can further determine the degree of tumor infiltration in each layer of the gallbladder wall.

2. CT scan

CT scan imaging changes of gallbladder cancer can be divided into three types:

(1) Thick wall type: limited or diffuse irregular thickening of the gallbladder wall;

(2) Nodular papillary nodules protrude from the gallbladder wall into the gallbladder cavity;

(3) Solid type: The gallbladder wall is extensively infiltrated and thickened by the tumor, and the cavity is filled with cancerous masses to form a substantial mass. If the tumor invades the liver or the hepatic hilar lymph nodes and metastasizes to the pancreatic head, it can often be seen on CT images.

3. Color Doppler blood flow imaging

The abnormal high-velocity arterial blood flow signals detected in the gallbladder mass and wall are important features that distinguish primary malignant gallbladder tumors from gallbladder metastatic cancer or benign gallbladder masses

4.ERCP

ERCP can detect gallbladder cancer in 73% to 90% of cases. However, more than half of ERCP examinations fail to show the gallbladder.

5. Cytological examination

(1) Cytological examination can directly take a biopsy or extract bile to find cancer cells. The positive rate of cytological examination is not high, but combined with imaging examination, it can still make a diagnosis for more than half of gallbladder cancer patients.

(2) Tumor markers In the CEA immunohistochemistry study report of tumor specimens, the CEA positive rate of gallbladder cancer is 100%. The serum CEA value of patients with advanced gallbladder cancer can reach 9.6ng/ml, but it is of no value in early diagnosis. Tumor sugar chain antigens such as CA19-9, CA125, and CA15-3 can only be used as auxiliary examinations for gallbladder cancer.

The five methods explained above are the techniques commonly used in clinical examination of gallbladder cancer. Gallbladder cancer patients are generally middle-aged and elderly patients, which is not only related to poor diet, but also often related to gallbladder stones. Therefore, in order to avoid suffering from gallbladder cancer, a life-threatening disease, patients with gallbladder stones should receive timely treatment to prevent the disease from worsening and causing gallbladder cancer.