Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder with chondroid differentiation

Abstract

Carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder is an uncommon neoplasm. We herein report the case of a patient with carcinosarcoma of the gallbladder with chondroid differentiation, treated by cholecystectomy with liver segmentectomy and lymph node dissection for a tumor which occupied the entire gallbladder and spread to the liver. Histologically, the tumor contained two distinct components: a mixture of both well and poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma and sarcomatoid tissue with chondroid differentiation. From a review of the literature, it was seen that carcinosarcomas of the gallbladder could be divided into two groups: one group with apparent sarcomatous differentiation, such as chondroid, osteoid, and rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation, and the other group, of carcinosarcomas with a sarcomatous portion composed of anaplastic spindle cells. Each group had a poor prognosis in spite of surgical resection of tumors. Our patient died of peritoneal dissemination 7 months after surgery.