Retrospective analysis of incidence of gallbladder cancer in North-Western India over 5 years

Abstract

Background: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is one of the leading cancers among gastrointestinal malignancies. GBC occurs more frequently in females worldwide. There are very few studies on the incidence of GBC in the state of Rajasthan. The present study evaluates its temporal variation and area-wise distribution. Materials and Methods: Five-year retrospective data on GBC incidence were obtained from Hospital-Based Cancer Registry of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Bikaner, from January 2014 to December 2018. Linear regression was applied to determine the trend of GBC incidence over these 5 years. District- and tehsil-wise distribution of patients was also analyzed. Results: Of 31,553 cases registered at RCC, Bikaner, from January 2014 to December 2018, there were 1199 cases of GBC accounting for 3.8% of the total. Among these, there were 333 males and 866 females which contributed approximately 1.8% and 6.4% of all male and female cancer cases, respectively. The median age at the diagnosis of GBC was 60 years in both the sexes. Linear regression analysis showed an increasing trend of GBC incidence over 5 years. The highest incidence rate was found in the districts of Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, and Bikaner, with most patients coming from Ganganagar and Suratgarh tehsils of Sri Ganganagar district. Conclusion: GBC cases have shown an increasing trend in the past 5 years in Rajasthan with a higher incidence in the North-Western districts irrigated by canal water. There is a need to correlate the water chemistry and find out solutions for reducing the risk of GBC in future.