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

ABSTRACT

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.