About Cancer
Gallbladder cancer begins in part of the called the gallbladder.
It starts when abnormal cells in the gallbladder start to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. The cells can grow into surrounding tissues or organs and may spread to other areas of the body such as the lungs.
Find out more about cancer and how it starts
The gallbladder is a small, hollow, pear-shaped pouch about 8cm long. It lies in the upper tummy (abdomen) underneath the right side of the liver.
The gallbladder is connected to the bile ducts. These are tubes that carry a fluid called bile. Bile helps your body digest food.
The gallbladder and bile ducts are part of the biliary tract. Doctors also call this the biliary tree or biliary system.
This video shows where the gallbladder and bile ducts are and what they do. The video is 1 minute and 30 seconds long.
You may hear gallbladder cancer called biliary cancer. This is because doctors sometimes group gallbladder and bile duct cancers together.
Read more about bile duct cancer
The gallbladder stores bile which is made in the liver. Bile contains:
water
cholesterol - a type of fat found in the blood
bilirubin – a waste product made when break down. It gives bile its greenish colour
bile salts – these help the body use fats and some vitamins from food
Your liver releases bile either:
straight into the bile ducts when you eat
into the gallbladder to be stored
When your body needs bile, it flows from the liver or gallbladder, down the common bile duct and into the first part of the small bowel (duodenum).
In your bowel the bile helps break down fats in the food you’ve eaten. This makes it easier for your body to use the food.
Lymph nodes are also known as lymph glands. They are part of our lymphatic system. This is a network of organs, thin tubes and nodes that run throughout the body and carry a fluid called .
Lymph nodes filter the lymph as it passes through them. They can trap bacteria, viruses and cancer cells that are in the lymph.
Lymph nodes are often the first place that cancer cells reach if they break away from a cancer. Surgeons usually remove some lymph nodes near the cancer during surgery. They send them to a specialist doctor (pathologist) who checks to see if they contain cancer cells.
Learn more about the lymphatic system
Knowing if there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes helps your doctor decide the stage of the cancer. Staging is a way of describing the cancer’s size and whether it has spread. It is important because the stage helps your doctor recommend the best treatment.
Read about the stages of gallbladder cancer
Gallbladder cancer is rare. Around 1,300 people are diagnosed in the UK each year. It is more common in women than in men.
The symptoms of gallbladder cancer include tummy pain, feeling sick, yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice) or an enlarged gallbladder.
Factors that increase the risk of developing gallbladder cancer include age, gallstones, gallbladder polyps and being overweight. Read about these and other risk factors.
You usually start by seeing your GP. They might refer you for tests or to a specialist if you have symptoms that could be caused by gallbladder cancer.
You have a number of tests to check for gallbladder cancer. This can include a physical examination, blood tests, biopsy and different types of scans.
The stage of a cancer tells you about its size and whether it has spread. The grade means how abnormal the cells look under the microscope.
The type of cancer tells you which type of cell it started in. There are several types of gallbladder cancer.
Advanced gallbladder cancer is cancer that has spread outside the gallbladder into lymph nodes or nearby organs. Or that has spread to another part of the body such as the lungs (secondary or metastatic gallbladder cancer).
This section is due for review. We will update this as soon as possible.
Last reviewed: 06 Oct 2026
Next review due: 06 Oct 2029
