Biliary bile acids in cholelithiasis and carcinoma of the gall bladder.

The role of biliary deoxycholate as an endogenous carcinogen and the possible association between cholelithiasis and the subsequent development of carcinoma of the gall bladder is unclear. This paper describes biliary bile acid analysis performed on three groups of patients, 10 with cholelithiasis, 10 with carcinoma of the gall bladder and 10 control patients. This is the first report of bile acid changes in carcinoma of the gall bladder. In these 30 patients the total bile acids concentration was highly variable (11.44-53.68 mg/ml). The mean ratio of primary to secondary bile acids was 3.5:1. This ratio was, however, significantly higher in cholelithiasis than in the control group (5.34:1; P < 0.001); patients with carcinoma of the gall bladder had significantly higher secondary bile acids (1:1; P < 0.001). This is due to a marked increase in the secondary bile acids and indicates that raised biliary deoxycholate concentrations are present in patients with carcinoma of the gall bladder and therefore may well be a factor in carcinogenesis.