Surgical outcomes of minor hepatectomy for locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma.

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate whether wedge resection or S4bS5 resection was the more beneficial hepatectomy procedure for patients with locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma. Methodology: A retrospective analysis of 70 patients who underwent either wedge resection (n=58) or S4bS5 resection (n=12) for locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma without clinically evident liver metastases was conducted. Clinicopathological characteristics, histological features of hepatic invasion and surgical outcomes were analyzed. Results: Sixteen patients had tumors with hepatic invasion. Of the 16 patients with hepatic invasion, 6 had direct liver invasion alone and 10 had portal tract invasion featuring intrahepatic stromal invasion (n=5), intrahepatic lymphatic invasion (n=4) and intrahepatic venous invasion (n=1). The hepatectomy procedure was not significantly associated with survival after resection (p=0.518) as patients who underwent wedge resection showed an overall cumulative 3-year survival rate of 74% compared with 60% for patients who underwent S4bS5 resection. The Cox proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that pT classification (p<0.001), pM classification (p=0.001) and resection of the extrahepatic bile duct (p=0.048) were independently significant factors associated with survival after resection. Conclusions: Hepatectomy procedure may not significantly affect surgical outcomes in patients with gallbladder carcinoma. Partial hepatectomy involving the gallbladder bed is critical due to possible tumor cells.