title: Gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and hepatic cancer during pregnancy.
abstract: Pregnancy affects the clinical presentation, evaluation, treatment, and prognosis of patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Pregnant patients may present with advanced gastrointestinal cancer as a result of delayed diagnosis, in part because of difficulty differentiating signs and symptoms of cancer from signs and symptoms of normal pregnancy. The approach to cancer surgery and chemotherapy must be modified in pregnant patients to minimize fetal and maternal risks. Because of these factors, women who develop gastrointestinal cancers during pregnancy seem to have a poor prognosis. This article focuses on cancers of the colon, stomach, pancreas, and liver that occur during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Ambulatory Care Center-5, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC10-5550, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. jdunkelberg@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dunkelberg
authors.forename: Jehad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barakat
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deutsch
mesh_terms: D004067:Digestive System Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors