Gallbladder cancer originates in the gallbladder, a small, pear-shaped organ below the liver that stores bile. Because cancer of the gallbladder doesn’t usually cause symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage, prognosis is often poor.
In fact, only about one in five gallbladder cancers is found in the early stages, when the cancer has not spread beyond the gallbladder, according to the American Cancer Society. Gallbladder cancer is not common and affects fewer than 20,000 people each year.