Gallbladder Cancer Rare


September 25, 1998|Dr. Paul Donohue

Dear Dr. Donohue: My mom passed away from gallbladder cancer. I understand it is rare. I called the Cancer Society for information but all it could send me dealt with colon cancer. Can you give me more information? I really would appreciate it. - C.R. Dear C.R.: To give you an idea of how uncommon gallbladder cancer is, the medical bible on cancer, a tome of 2,746 pages, devotes less than one page to it.

What makes gallbladder cancer so lethal is its silence. By the time a patient experiences symptoms, the cancer has usually spread and is frequently untreatable.

Abdominal pain, weight loss, constant nausea and skin yellowing alert physicians that liver disease or gallbladder disease, including gallbladder cancer, could be the source of those symptoms.

Around age 70 is when most gallbladder cancers arise. By the time doctors diagnose it, patients survive, on the average, only six months.

Because of its rarity, details on gallbladder cancer are sorely lacking.

Dear Dr. Donohue: Would you please let me know about the new diabetes medicine Rezulin? I am taking it along with another diabetes medicine, Glucophage. I am getting lower back pain. Could it be due to Rezulin? - L.M.

Dear L.M.: Rezulin - troglitazone - is a new oral diabetes medicine that has the advantage of having to be taken only once a day. It lowers blood sugar by shuttling sugar into muscles and halting liver sugar production.

In its testing phase, only six patients out of 1,450 complained of back pain. Such a small number of backaches makes it difficult to jump to the conclusion that Rezulin was or is a cause of back pain.

Rezulin can cause liver damage. The manufacturer sent a warning to all doctors, instructing them to test all their Rezulin patients for liver damage. Tests should be run monthly for the first eight months and then every two months for the next four months.

After a full year with no signs of liver trouble, liver-function tests should still be taken periodically as long as a patient is on the medicine.

Rezulin can be used in conjunction with Diabinese, DiaBeta, Glucotrol and Micronase, other oral diabetic medicines. No information is available on its use with Glucophage.

Speak with your doctor. See if the doctor can substitute another medicine for Rezulin. That is one sure way to find out if Rezulin is causing your back pain.


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