Clinical characteristics of gastric cancer associated with pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical features and treatment outcome of gastric cancer associated with pregnancy.


METHODS
Clinicopathologic characteristics of 15 patients who were diagnosed as having gastric cancer during pregnancy or within 1 year after delivery (the P-related group) were compared with those of 53 age-matched pregnancy-unrelated gastric cancer patients (the control group).


RESULTS
Significant differences were found in tumor stage and surgical curability; the numbers of stage IV disease were 12 (80%) and 21 (40%; p = 0.006), and those of curative resection were 4 (27%) and 20 (62%; p = 0.02) in the P-related and the control group, respectively. Three-year survival rate was significantly lower in the P-related group (23.3%) than in the control group (52.8%; p = 0.007). In the P-related group, only 3 patients, including one patient diagnosed using endoscopy, survived without recurrences. In the multivariate analysis, pregnancy was not identified as an independent risk factor associated with poor outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Gastric cancer associated with pregnancy is discovered at its advanced stage and consequently shows a dismal prognosis. Considering that the patients who underwent curative resection have a favorable prognosis, primary efforts should be focused on early diagnosis.
Lee
Hyuk-Joon
HJ
Department of Surgery and Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Lee
In Kyu
IK
Kim
Jong Won
JW
Lee
Kuhn Uk
KU
Choe
Kuk Jin
KJ
Yang
Han-Kwang
HK
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult