Diagnosis & Staging

Gallbladder cancer is most often discovered incidentally, through surgical removal of the gallbladder to treat gallstones or other conditions. Because bile duct cancer does not cause any symptoms initially, it is usually not diagnosed until a patient becomes jaundiced, but may be found if abnormal liver function tests are discovered. Occasionally bile duct cancer will be identified incidentally on a CT scan performed for another reason.

Blood tests, diagnostic imaging, biopsy, or a combination of these methods may be used to make an accurate diagnosis and stage gallbladder and bile duct cancer.