41 patients with gallbladder carcinoma surgically treated from 1975 until 1987 were analyzed retrospectively. In this period we found a frequency of gallbladder cancer of 1.1% among all cholecystectomies. Preoperative diagnostic methods prompted suspicion of a tumor of the gallbladder in only 24%. 66% of the tumors were resectable. The cumulative survival rate at 1 year was 30% and at 5 years 8%. Long-term cures in 3 patients - 6, 8 and 13 years after resection - were achieved by cholecystectomy alone.