Page last updated: November 2025
The information on this webpage was adapted from Understanding Gall Bladder Cancer - A guide for people affected by cancer (2025 edition). This webpage was last updated in November 2025.
Expert content reviewers:
This information was developed with the help of a range of health professionals and people affected by cancer:
- Dr Corina Behrenbruch, Colorectal Surgeon, St Vincent’s Hospital Fitzroy, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and The University of Melbourne, VIC
- Dr Prasad Cooray, Medical Oncologist and Clinical Lecturer – The University of Melbourne Department of Surgery, Austin Health, VIC
- Prof Jacob George, The University of Sydney and Head, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Westmead Hospital and Western Sydney Local Health District, NSW
- Dr Andrew Oar, Radiation Oncologist, Icon Cancer Centre, Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD
- Chris Rivett, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council SA
- Nicole Williams, HepatoPancreatoBiliary (HPB) Nurse Consultant, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, SA.
What are gallbladder and bile duct cancers?
Cancer is when cells in any part of the body become abnormal and keep growing to form a mass or lump called a tumour.
Malignant (cancerous) tumours have the potential to spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or lymph vessels and form another tumour at a new site. This new tumour is known as secondary cancer or metastasis.
Gallbladder and bile duct cancers are two different types of cancers but affect the same area of the body. Bile duct cancer is sometimes called cholangiocarcinoma or biliary tract cancer.
Types of gallbladder and bile duct cancers
- Gallbladder cancer – about 85% of are adenocarcinomas, which are tumours that start in the cells that line the inside of the gallbladder. The other, less common, types of gallbladder cancer include squamous cell carcinoma, sarcoma and lymphoma.
- Bile duct cancer – can happen in different places within the bile duct system. Cancers in the bile ducts that are within the liver are called intrahepatic, cancers at the point where the left and right hepatic ducts meet are called Klatskin tumours and cancers in the common bile duct outside the liver are extrahepatic tumours.
About the gallbladder and bile ducts
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side of the abdomen (belly), under the liver. It is part of the digestive system.
The gallbladder stores bile, a fluid that is made by the liver and helps your body break down fats in the foods you eat.
Bile ducts are small tubes that carry bile from the liver into the small bowel (small intestine).
How common are gallbladder and bile duct cancers?
About 1430 Australians are diagnosed each year with gallbladder and bile duct cancers. People 65 or over are more likely to be diagnosed with these cancers than younger people.
More gallbladder cancer statistics and trends
Risk factors
The exact cause of most gallbladder cancers is not known, but factors that increase your risk include:
- having had gallstones or inflammation of the gallbladder in the past
- family history of gallbladder cancer (close relative such as mother, father, sibling or child)
- other gallbladder and bile duct conditions and abnormalities, such as gallbladder polyps, choledochal cysts (bile-filled cysts) and calcified gallbladder (also known as porcelain gallbladder).
The main risk factor for bile duct cancer is longterm inflammation of the bile ducts. This may be caused by liver problems such as hepatitis and fatty liver disease.
Other risk factors include exposure to certain chemicals in the printing industry, or having inflammatory bowel disease or liver conditions (which can cause scar tissue in the bile ducts). However, most people with these risk factors do not develop cancer.
“When I heard the word cancer, my mind went completely blank. I was crying so hard I didn’t hear a word the doctor said after that. After a few days I started to think more clearly again.” Esther
Symptoms
Gallbladder cancer and bile duct cancer can be difficult to diagnose in their early stages as they don’t usually cause symptoms. If there are symptoms, they may include:
- abdominal pain, often on the upper right side
- nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting
- jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), causing dark urine (wee), pale bowel movements (poo)
- general weakness or fatigue
- a lump in the abdomen
- unexplained weight loss
- a constant itch
- fever.
Sometimes, cancer is found when the gallbladder is removed or examined for another reason, such as gallstones. But most people who have surgery for gallstones do not have gallbladder cancer.
Finding a specialist
Rare Cancers Australia have a directory of health professionals and cancer services across Australia.
Visit Rare Cancers Australia
Diagnosis
If your doctor thinks that you may have gallbladder or bile duct cancer, they will perform a physical examination and arrange some of the following tests.
Common tests
Blood tests
These may include a full blood count (to measure your white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets), liver function tests (to measure chemicals that are found or made in your liver) and tumour markers (to measure chemicals produced by cancer cells).
Ultrasound scan
For this scan, you will lie down. A health professional called a sonographer will spread gel over the affected part of your body, and move a small device over the area.
Soundwaves are used to create pictures of the inside of your body. The ultrasound images are then projected onto a computer screen. An ultrasound is painless and takes about 15– 20 minutes.
CT (computerised tomography) and/or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans
Special machines are used to scan and create pictures of the inside of your body. During the scan you may have an injection of dye (called contrast) into one of your veins, which makes the pictures clearer.
You will need to lie still on an examination table which slides into a large metal tube. A special type of MRI called magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) shows the bile ducts in more detail.
The scans are painless, though the MRI machine can be noisy.
Diagnostic laparoscopy
You will be given a general anaesthetic. The doctor will make small cuts in your abdomen.
A thin tube with a camera on the end (laparoscope) will be inserted into your body so the doctor can see your gall bladder, bile ducts and other parts of your abdomen.
Cholangiography
This is an x-ray of the bile ducts to see if there is any narrowing or blockage.
ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
The doctor inserts a flexible tube with a camera on the end (endoscope) down your throat into your small intestine and into your bile duct while you are sedated. The camera takes images of your gut.
Biopsy
This is the removal of some tissue from the affected area for examination under a microscope. This can be done during a laparoscopy, a cholangiography or by a thin needle guided by ultrasound or CT scan.
Staging
Staging describes how far the cancer has spread. Knowing the stage helps doctors plan the best treatment for you.
Gallbladder and bile duct cancers are staged using the TNM (tumour–nodes–metastasis) system, which indicates the size of the tumour, whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or if has spread to other parts of the body.
Staging gallbladder and bile duct cancers
The TMO system is used along with a number value from 0-IV.
- Stage 0 – Indicates the cancer is only in the place of origin and has not spread to nearby organs.
- Stage I – Cancer cells have begun to spread to nearby tissue but are not deeply embedded. Lymph nodes are not affected. This stage is also known as early-stage cancer.
- Stage II – The cancer is deeply embedded into nearby tissue. Lymph nodes may or may not be affected. This is called localised cancer.
- Stage III – The cancer is larger and deeply embedded into surrounding tissue and lymph nodes are usually affected. This is also called localised cancer.
- Stage IV – The cancer has spread to other parts of the body. This is known as advanced or metastatic cancer.
Understanding Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancers
Download our Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancers fact sheet to learn more.
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