What Does The Gallbladder Do In The Human Body – Gallbladder is a rare disease in which malignant () cells are found in the gallbladder tissues. The gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ located in the upper abdomen just below the liver. The gallbladder stores bile, a fluid made by the liver to digest fat. When food is being broken down in the stomach and intestines, urine is released from the gallbladder through a tube called the common bile duct, which connects the gallbladder and liver to the first part of the small intestine.

Anatomy of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is located just below the liver. Bile is stored in the gallbladder and flows into the small intestine through the cystic duct and common bile duct when food is being digested.

What Does The Gallbladder Do In The Human Body

These and other signs and symptoms can be caused by a gallbladder or other conditions. Talk to your doctor if you have any of the following:

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A gallbladder is sometimes found when the gallbladder is removed for other reasons. Gallstones rarely develop in patients with gallstones.

Tests that examine the gallbladder and nearby organs are used to locate (find), diagnose, and stage the gallbladder.

Procedures that make images of the gallbladder and the area around it help diagnose the gallbladder and show how far it has spread. The process used to determine whether cells have spread in and around the gallbladder is called staging.

In order to plan treatment, it is important to know if the gallbladder can be removed surgically. Tests and procedures to detect, diagnose, and stage the gallbladder are usually done at the same time. In addition to asking about your personal and family health history and performing a physical examination, your doctor may perform the following tests and procedures:

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Treatment may also depend on the patient’s age and general health and whether it is causing signs or symptoms.

A gallbladder can only be cured if it is found before it becomes enlarged, when it can be surgically removed. If spread, curative treatment can improve the patient’s quality of life by controlling the symptoms and complications of the disease.

Consideration should be given to participating in one of the clinical trials being conducted to improve treatment. Information about ongoing clinical trials is available from the NCI website.

See the general information section for a description of the tests and procedures used to detect, diagnose, and stage gallbladder disease.

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When it spreads to another part of the body, it is called metastasis. The cells break off from where they started (the primary tumor) and travel through the lymphatic system or blood.

A metastatic tumor is of the same type as the primary tumor. For example, if the gallbladder expands into the liver, the cells in the liver are actually cells from the gallbladder. The disease is metastatic to the gallbladder, not the liver.

Many deaths occur when the original tumor moves away and spreads to other tissues and organs. This is called metastatic. This animation shows how cells travel from the place in the body where they first form to other parts of the body.

In stage 0, abnormal cells are found in the mucosa (inner lining) of the bladder wall. These abnormal cells can become abnormal and spread into nearby normal tissue. Stage 0 is also called carcinoma in situ.

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In stage I, gallstones have formed in the mucosa (inner lining) of the gallbladder wall and may have spread to the muscular layer of the gallbladder wall.

Stage II is divided into stage IIA and IIB, depending on where in the gallbladder the tumor has spread.

For the gallbladder, the stages are also divided according to how they can be treated. There are two groups of treatments:

A recurrence is one that has recurred (come back) after being treated. Gallbladder can back up into the gallbladder or into other parts of the body.

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Metastasis is the spread from the primary site (where it started) to other places in the body. A metastatic gallbladder can spread to surrounding tissues, organs, throughout the abdominal cavity, or to distant parts of the body.

Various types of treatment are available for patients with gallbladder disease. Some treatments are standard (currently used treatments), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve existing treatments or to find out about new treatments for patients. When clinical trials show that the new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to consider participating in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.

Gallbladder disease can be treated with a cholecystectomy, surgery to remove the gallbladder and some of its surrounding tissue. Nearby lymph nodes may be removed. A laparoscope is sometimes used to guide gallbladder surgery. The laparoscope is attached to a video camera and inserted through an incision (port) in the abdomen. Surgical instruments are inserted through other ports to perform surgery. Because there is a risk that gallbladder cells can spread into these ports, the tissue surrounding the port sites may also be removed.

If the tumor has spread and cannot be removed, the following types of curative surgery can relieve symptoms:

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Radiation therapy is a treatment that uses high-energy X-rays or other types of radiation to kill cells or stop them from growing. External radiation therapy uses a machine to send radiation to the outside of the body.

Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses drugs to stop cell growth, either by killing cells or by stopping cells from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs enter the bloodstream and can reach cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy).

This summary section describes treatments that are being studied in clinical trials. This study may not address every new treatment being studied. Information about clinical trials is available from the NCI website.

Clinical trials are studying ways to improve the effect of radiation therapy on tumor cells, including the following:

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Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cells. The following targeted therapies are being studied in patients with a gallbladder that is locally advanced and cannot be removed by surgery or has spread to other parts of the body:

Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the patient’s immune system to fight. Substances made by the body or manufactured in the laboratory are used to stimulate, direct, or restore the body’s natural defenses.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors. Checkpoint proteins, such as PD-L1 on tumor cells and PD-1 on T cells, help control immune responses. Binding of PD-1 to PD-L1 prevents T cells from killing tumor cells in the body (left panel). Blocking the binding of PD-1 to PD-L1 with an immune checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD-1) allows T cells to kill tumor cells (right panel).

Immunotherapy uses the body’s immune system to fight back. This animation explains a type of immunotherapy that uses immune checkpoint inhibitors for treatment.

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For some patients, participating in a clinical trial may be the best treatment option. Clinical trials are part of the research process. Clinical trials are conducted to determine whether new treatments are safe and effective or better than standard treatments.

Many of today’s standard treatments are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients participating in a clinical trial may receive a standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.

Patients participating in clinical trials also help improve the way treatments are administered in the future. Even when clinical trials don’t lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help advance research.

Some clinical trials include only patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose condition has not improved. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to prevent recurrence (relapse) or reduce the side effects of treatment.

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Clinical trials are going on in many parts of the country. Information about NCI-supported clinical trials can be found on NCI’s Clinical Trials Search webpage. Clinical trials supported by other organizations can be found on the ClinicalTrials.gov website.

Some tests that were done to diagnose or determine the stage may be repeated. Some tests will be repeated to see how well the treatment is working. Decisions about continuing, changing, or stopping treatment may be based on the results of these tests.

Some tests will continue to be done periodically after the treatment ends. The results of these tests can show if your condition has changed or if it has recurred (come back). These tests are sometimes called follow-up tests or check-ups.

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