Obesity and Risk of High-Grade Dysplasia and Gallbladder Cancer Among Women with Gallstones in the Chile Biliary Longitudinal Study

Background/Objectives: Gallbladder cancer (GBC) remains a leading cause of cancer death in Chilean women. Gallstones are present in >90% of GBC cases, but few individuals with gallstones develop cancer, suggesting additional factors are needed.

Methods

To determine whether obesity increases the risk of progression from gallstones to high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and GBC, we used data from the Chile Biliary Longitudinal Study, 2016–2025, comprising women with ultrasound-detected gallstones in high-incidence regions of Chile.We measured body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) at baseline and up to two follow-up visits. We used Cox proportional-hazards models with age as the time scale to quantify associations of time-varying BMI and WHtR with HGD/GBC risk.