Gallbladder adenocarcinoma

This phase II trial tests whether nivolumab in combination with cabozantinib works in patients with mucosal melanoma. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Cabozantinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. It works by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals tumor cells to multiply. This helps stop the spread of tumor cells. Giving nivolumab in combination with cabozantinib could prevent cancer from returning.

Gallbladder adenocarcinoma is a devastating disease associated with a poor prognosis. Gallbladder and other biliary cancers will be responsible for an estimated 11,980 new cases, and 4,090 deaths in the US during 2020. The 5-year survival for all patients with gallbladder cancer is 18%, however this plummets to 2% for patients with metastatic disease. Patients with gallbladder cancer frequently develop peritoneal recurrence, particularly after intra-operative bile spillage during cholecystectomy for incidentally discovered gallbladder malignancy. Once developed, peritoneal metastases are difficult to treat and result in significant morbidity and mortality. As a result, novel approaches that target peritoneal metastases are needed for this disease. Prophylactic use of heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been explored or is under active investigation for numerous gastrointestinal malignancies, including colon, gastric, and appendiceal cancers. HIPEC has efficacy in gallbladder cancer patients with macroscopic peritoneal disease undergoing cytoreductive surgery (CRS)/HIPEC and has been associated with a survival advantage in a multi-institutional retrospective case series. Incidentally discovered gallbladder cancer is treated with central hepatectomy and portal lymphadenectomy, therefore a prophylactic HIPEC can be easily incorporated into the second operation performed as part of the standard of care. In this early phase clinical trial, the investigators will explore the safety and feasibility of prophylactic HIPEC for gallbladder cancer in patients at high-risk of peritoneal recurrence. The primary endpoint is to assess feasibility of the prophylactic heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) approach in gallbladder cancer. The primary endpoints include occurrence of intra-operative complications, technical challenges, 90-day postoperative morbidity and mortality, length of stay and readmission, which will be documented and compared with historical controls after follow-up.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) can become elevated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yolk sac tumors and other malignant tumors of various organs. Herein, the investigator present a case of AFP-producing gallbladder carcinoma with signet ring cells successfully treated with laparoscopic whole-layer cholecystectomy.