Successful treatment of gastric cancer in pregnancy

Gastric cancer during pregnancy is rare, and even in Japan where a high rate of gastric cancers are reported, only 0.016% of pregnant women suffer from this disease. Generally, the cancer is already advanced at the time of detection and the prognosis for the woman is usually extremely poor. Moreover, prioritizing treatment of the woman often results in a premature birth.

We report a case of gastric cancer in a 32-year-old pregnant woman, gravida 6, para 4. The mother and the neonate had good prognoses after early diagnosis, cesarean delivery and surgery.

Diagnosis of gastric cancer in pregnant women is often delayed even when they are symptomatic, because the symptoms are taken to be symptoms of hyperemesis or expansion of the uterus. However, since the nausea and vomiting arising from hyperemesis generally improves by the 20th week of gestation, the presence of protracted digestive symptoms in the second trimester calls for prompt investigation of digestive disorders. This case highlights the importance of early detection of gastric cancer for a positive prognosis, considering the rapidity with which gastric cancer advances in pregnancy.