Anatomical features of gallbladder and invasion and metastasis route of gallbladder cancer        CHEN Ya-jin. Department of Hepatobiliarypancreatic Surgery, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
Abstract    The invasion and metastasis of gallbladder cancer (GBCA) is closely related with the gallbladder anatomical features. The gallbladder sits are just beneath the liver, with thin submucosal muscle, multi-directional lymphatic flow and rich innervation. The gallbladder vein directly joins the portal vein and the gallbladder keeps close anatomical relationship with surrounding organs. Liver and lymph node invasion are the most common metastasis ways of GBCA, and bile duct metastasis is often accompanied by neural invasion. Surrounding organs invasion, peritoneal dissemination and distant metastasis may occur in advanced GBCA. Grasping the invasion and metastasis properties from the perspective of anatomy and pathophysiology will facilitate the understanding of clinical manifestations, treatment and prognosis of GBCA with different locations, types and advanced stages.