Abstract
Introduction: As a common disease, gallstone has the potential to increase the risk of biliary tract neoplasm via inflammation, bile flow alterations, or changing the levels of metabolic hormones.
Objectives: The present systematic review intended to investigate the potential relationship between gallstone and biliary tract neoplasm.
Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted through a systematic review and meta-analysis, based on the guidelines provided by PRISMA. A comprehensive search was performed in the Web of Science, Cochrane, ProQuest, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases until February 20, 2024. Moreover, data analysis was performed using the STATA 14 software, and the significance level was set at P<0.05.
Results: The present systematic review included 14 case-control and 11 cohort studies. According to our results, gallstone increased the risk of biliary tract neoplasm in all studies (OR: 4.08, 95% CI: 2.82, 5.92), including cohort (OR: 4.35, 95% CI: 2.61, 7) and case-control studies (OR: 3.87, 95% CI: 2.22, 6.72). Moreover, the increased risk of biliary tract neoplasm was reported in the gallstone patients of the age groups of 40-49 years (OR: 2.97, 95% CI: 2.30, 3.84), 50-59 years (OR: 2.92, 95% CI: 2.02, 4.23), and 60-69 years (OR: 6.34, 95% CI: 4, 10.07). Furthermore, the patients with gallstones were at an increased risk of gallbladder cancer (OR: 6.24, 95% CI: 3.95, 9.85), intrahepatic bile duct cancer (OR: 4.46, 95% CI: 1.31, 15.15), extrahepatic bile duct cancer (OR: 4.19, 95), and ampulla of Vater cancer (OR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.53, 3.99) compared to patients without gallstones.
Conclusion: Gallstones significantly increased the risk of biliary tract neoplasm, with the highest risk reported in the age group of 60-69 years.
Registration: This study has been compiled based on the PRISMA checklist, and its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42024518046) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry1800) website.