Early gastric cancer and a concomitant pregnancy

Gastric cancer associated with pregnancy is most often associated with a poor prognosis because the cancer stage is usually advanced at the time of diagnosis. The symptoms are frequently masked by factors related to the normal pregnancy and diagnostic approaches are restricted by physical and psychological clinical events. The authors treated a 30-year-old woman at 35 weeks of gestation. She had episodes of hematemesis and a prompt diagnosis of early gastric cancer was made following observations using a gastroduodenal fiberscope. A living normal child was delivered following oxytocin-induced labor and, 18 days later, curative resection for the gastric cancer was done. The patient has been doing well for over 16 months at this writing, with no evidence of recurrence. Based on the author's experience and a review of the literature, they conclude that early gastric cancer detected during pregnancy has a satisfactory prognosis and that use of the gastrofiberscope facilitates an early diagnosis in a pregnant subject with untoward symptoms of the GI tract.