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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1804501
Case Report with Review of Literature

Beyond the Surface: Sister Mary Joseph's Nodule in Metastatic Gallbladder Cancer: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Avinash Khadela 
1   Department of Pharmacology, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
,
Shruti Soni
1   Department of Pharmacology, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
,
Vraj B. Shah
1   Department of Pharmacology, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
,
Rushabh Kothari
2   Department of Medical Oncology, Oncowin Cancer Centre, Naroda Branch, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Sister Mary Joseph's nodule (SMJN) is an umbilical nodule occurring because of metastasis of the abdomen and pelvic malignancies. It is a rare physical finding, reported in nearly 3% of patients with gastrointestinal or gynecological cancers. The majority of cases presents at a very advanced stage of the disease, and often results in dismal prognosis. Here, we report the case of a 54-year-old woman with metastatic gallbladder cancer, presenting with SMJN. The patient declined chemotherapeutic intervention following the cancer diagnosis and later arrived with an umbilical nodule, which was identified as SMJN. The patient was advised to take a gemcitabine-cisplatin regimen, but opted solely for palliative care and passed away within a few weeks of SMJN diagnosis. This case report emphasizes how an untreated malignancy can advance quickly and present as an unusual clinical sign. Drawing the attention of health care professionals to this clinical sign will eventually help in the early detection of disease progression and its management to improve survival outcomes.

Keywords

Sister Mary Joseph's nodule - gallbladder carcinoma - umbilical mass

Authors' Contributions

A.K., R.K. contributed to the conceptualization and design of the data. S.S. contributed to the acquisition of the data. S.S., V.B.S. contributed to writing original draft of the manuscript. A.K., R.K. contributed to the review and editing of the manuscript.


Patient Consent

Informed consent was obtained from the individual who participated in this study.




Publication History

Article published online:
20 February 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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