Clinical characteristics of gastric cancer associated with pregnancy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: 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.

CONCLUSION

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.