Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2016 Dec;16(4):271-276.
doi: 10.5230/jgc.2016.16.4.271. Epub 2016 Dec 20.

The Rare and Challenging Presentation of Gastric Cancer during Pregnancy: A Report of Three Cases

Sergio Pacheco  1 , Enrique Norero  2 , Claudio Canales  3 , José Miguel Martínez  3 , María Elisa Herrera  4 , Carolina Muñoz  4 , Nicolás Jarufe  5
Affiliations
Case Reports

The Rare and Challenging Presentation of Gastric Cancer during Pregnancy: A Report of Three Cases

Sergio Pacheco et al. J Gastric Cancer. 2016 Dec.

Abstract

Pregnancy-associated gastric cancer is extremely rare. In many cases, it is diagnosed at an advanced stage because the symptoms during pregnancy are generally overlooked. We report three cases of gastric cancer during pregnancy with various outcomes. The first case included a patient with stage IV gastric cancer who received palliative chemotherapy. This patient had a preterm birth and died 7 months after diagnosis. The second case received neoadjuvant chemotherapy during pregnancy and a total gastrectomy was performed after delivery. She then received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. This patient developed pulmonary metastasis and died of recurrence 41 months after surgery. In the third case, a distal subtotal gastrectomy was performed at week 14 of pregnancy, with no complications. The patient received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. She is currently without recurrence 14 months after surgery. In patients with pregnancy-associated gastric cancer, treatment decisions are predominantly influenced by clinical stage and gestational age at diagnosis.

Keywords: Carcinoma, signet ring cell; Pregnancy; Stomach neoplasms.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Magnetic resonance imaging findings in case 1. (A, B) Gastric wall thickness, lymph node metastasis, perihepatic, and perisplenic fluid. (C, D) Gravid uterus.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Computed tomography findings in case 2. (A, B) Gastric wall thickness. (C, D) Gravid uterus.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Computed tomography findings in case 3. (A, B) Prepyloric gastric wall thickness. (C, D) Gravid uterus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sakamoto K, Kanda T, Ohashi M, Kurabayashi T, Serikawa T, Matsunaga M, et al. Management of patients with pregnancy-associated gastric cancer in Japan: a mini-review. Int J Clin Oncol. 2009;14:392–396. - PubMed
    1. Song MJ, Park YS, Song HJ, Park SJ, Ahn JY, Choi KD, et al. Prognosis of pregnancy-associated gastric cancer: an age-, sex-, and stage-matched case-control study. Gut Liver. 2016;10:731–738. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chong VH, Lim CC. Advanced disseminated gastric carcinoma in pregnancy. Singapore Med J. 2003;44:471–472. - PubMed
    1. Chen Y, Li Y, Wang H, Lu J, Jin M, Zhang Z. Maternal gastric carcinoma with metastasis to the placenta: a case report. Oncol Lett. 2014;8:2509–2510. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Macdonald JS, Smalley SR, Benedetti J, Hundahl SA, Estes NC, Stemmermann GN, et al. Chemoradiotherapy after surgery compared with surgery alone for adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction. N Engl J Med. 2001;345:725–730. - PubMed

Publication types