Gastric cancer in pregnancy: is laparoscopic gastrectomy with lymph node dissection feasible and safe?

Gastric cancer with pregnancy is rare and usually presents in late and advanced stage. Standard interventions in diagnosing, staging and treatment of cancer may be harmful for the fetus. The treatment of cancer in pregnancy should not differ significantly from the treatment in nonpregnant women. There have been case reports of open gastrectomy for gastric cancer in pregnancy. We present a case of early gastric cancer in a 37-year-old pregnant woman treated with laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection with no postoperative complications. Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with lymph node dissection seems to be feasible and safe in pregnancy for a mother and a fetus.

Gastric Cancer with Peritoneal Tuberculosis: Challenges in Diagnosis and Treatment

Herein, we report a 39-year-old female patient presenting with gastric cancer and tuberculous peritonitis. The differential diagnosis between advanced gastric cancer with peritoneal carcinomatosis and early gastric cancer with peritoneal tuberculosis (TB), and the treatment of these two diseases, were challenging in this case. Physicians should have a high index of suspicion for peritoneal TB if the patient has a history of this disease, especially in areas with a high incidence of TB, such as South Korea. An early diagnosis is critical for patient management and prognosis. A surgical approach including tissue biopsy or laparoscopic exploration is recommended to confirm the diagnosis.