Cancer Types – Gallbladder Cancer

Back to Cancer Types

Gallbladder Cancer: Overview

Approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 04/2017

About the gallbladder

The gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ located just under the liver. It is part of the biliary tract, along with the liver and bile ducts. The gallbladder stores bile, a fluid made by the liver that helps to digest fats. Bile travels through the liver to the gallbladder through the intra-hepatic bile ducts for storage. It is released from the gallbladder through a tube, called the common bile duct, as food is broken down in the stomach and intestines.

The gallbladder’s wall is made up of 3 main layers of tissue:

  • the mucosa, which is the innermost layer and covers the wall of the gallbladder
  • the muscularis, the middle layer of smooth muscle
  • the serosa, the outer layer

Primary gallbladder cancer begins in the inner layer and spreads into the outer layers as it grows.

Read more about gallbladder cancer here.

Back to Cancer Types