Palliative treatment for locally advanced or metastatic gallbladder cancer: conclusions of the Latin American Consensus meeting for the management of gallbladder cancer

Gallbladder cancer is a rare disease in Western developed countries, but it is a highly prevalent and lethal disease in Chile and other countries in Latin America. No randomized controlled trials have been performed in gallbladder cancer to establish standard treatments. We therefore performed the first Latin American consensus meeting for the management of gallbladder cancer In this article we present the conclusions of the panel of experts for the palliative treatment of unresectable or metastatic gallbladder cancer based on a review of the literature, the discussion of the participating experts and the opinion of the assistants. The topics reviewed included: 1.- Gallbladder Cancer and Cholangiocarcinoma are they the same disease?; 2.- Palliative Chemotherapy: Indications, Drugs and Schedules; 3.- Palliative Radiotherapy; 4.- Palliative Surgery; 5.- Management of Malignant Biliary Obstruction. (Rev Med Chile 2011; 139: 267-273).