What is gallbladder cancer?

Gall bladder or bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) occurs when cells in the gall bladder become abnormal and keep growing to form a mass or lump called a tumour. The tumour type is defined by the particular cells that are affected. When cancer starts in another area of the body and spreads to the gall bladder it is referred to as secondary or metastatic cancer.

You can access further information about gallbladder cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is gallbladder cancer?

In 2022, 305 Victorians were diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. Of these, there were 153 males and 152 females, representing 50.2% and 49.8% of the total Victorian gallbladder cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, gallbladder cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 2.3 per 100,000 males and 1.8 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of gallbladder cancer is 72 years in males and 74 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 0.8% of all cancers diagnosed and 1.9% of all cancer-related deaths in 2022, gallbladder cancer was the 22nd most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 19th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.

Trends in gallbladder cancer over time

Figure 3 shows that for males between 1982 to 2013 the incidence of gallbladder cancer declined by an average of 1.1% per year, and between 2013 to 2022 incidence increased by an average of 4.2% per year.

For females between 1982 to 2022 the incidence of gallbladder cancer declined by an average of 0.6% per year.

For males between 1982 to 2002 the mortality of gallbladder cancer declined by an average of 3.4% per year, and between 2002 to 2022 mortality increased by an average of 3.5% per year.

For females between 1982 to 2005 the mortality of gallbladder cancer declined by an average of 3% per year, between 2005 to 2008 mortality stabilised, between 2008 to 2015 mortality declined by an average of 6% per year, and between 2015 to 2022 mortality stabilised.

Gallbladder cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused gallbladder cancers among all cases. Most gallbladder cancer tumours, 81.7%, present as Adenocarcinoma tumours.

Geographical variance in gallbladder cancer by local government area

Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of gallbladder cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of gallbladder cancer.

Gallbladder cancer in people born overseas

Figure 6 shows the age standardised incidence rates of gallbladder cancers in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate for gallbladder cancers was 3.9 for males born in the Middle East and North Africa region and the lowest rate of 1.5 was observed in males born in the North America region. The highest age standardised incidence rate of gallbladder cancers was 3 for females born in the Africa region and the lowest rate of 1.3 was observed in females born in the South and Central America region.

Gallbladder cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 7 shows the change in 5-year survival for gallbladder cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for gallbladder cancer between 1982-1986 and 2017-2021 from 13% to 27%.