Carcinomas of the gallbladder are morphologically heterogeneous. Some are similar or mimic
carcinomas that commonly arise in other organs and therefore can be confused with metastatic lesions. We report here the clinicopathologic features of 7
cribriform carcinomas of the gallbladder that resemble
cribriform carcinomas of the breast. Five patients were women and 2 men whose ages ranged from 31 to 72 years (average age 57 y). These 7 patients were younger than those with conventional
adenocarcinomas of the gallbladder (average age for males 71 y and average age for females 72 y). Five patients had
cholelithiasis. The youngest patient, a 31-year-old woman, had no
gallstones. Instead, she had an
osteosarcoma removed from her distal femur, 4 years before. Although the
osteosarcoma in this patient may be coincidental, a true association could not be entirely excluded. None of the 4
cribriform carcinomas of the gallbladder tested showed immunoreactivity for
estrogen and
progesterone receptors. Three patients with high nuclear grade
cribriform carcinomas died as a result of the
tumor which infiltrated the liver by direct extension; 3 patients with low nuclear grade
cribriform carcinomas confined to the gallbladder wall survived 4 to 7 years after
cholecystectomy and 1 patient was lost to follow-up. In conclusion, this study provides support to previous observations that a small proportion of gallbladder
carcinomas display an unusual but predominant cribriform pattern similar to that of some invasive
breast carcinomas. In contrast to mammary
cribriform carcinomas, those arising in the gallbladder occur in individuals usually with
gallstones, may coexist with skeletal
osteosarcoma, lack
estrogen and
progesterone receptors, and behave aggressively like conventional
adenocarcinomas of the gallbladder.