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 2021, 288 Victorians were diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. Of these, there were 140 males and 148 females, representing 48.6% and 51.4% of the total Victorian gallbladder cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, gallbladder cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 1.9 per 100,000 males and 1.9 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 1.8% of all cancer-related deaths in 2021, 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 since 1982 incidence of gallbladder cancer has decreased by an average of 0.5% per year in males and decreased by an average of 0.7% per year in females. Over the past 39 years, mortality from gallbladder cancer has decreased by 0.1% per year in males and decreased by 0.7% per year in females.
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, 81.2%, 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 3.2 for males born in the Middle East and North Africa region and the lowest rate of 1.4 was observed in males born in the Other Europe region. The highest age standardised incidence rate of gallbladder cancers was 2.3 for females born in the Middle East and North Africa region and the lowest rate of 1.4 was observed in females born in the Other Europe 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 1986-1990 and 2016-2020 from 14% to 26%.