Gastric cancer during early pregnancy. Two case reports

Krukenberg Progression of Gastric Carcinoma in Pregnancy: Is Early Diagnosis Possible? Case Report and Review of the Literature

Krukenberg tumors are metastatic tumors of the ovaries, associated with poor outcomes. Most commonly, these tumors are of gastric origin. The diagnosis of Krukenberg tumors in pregnant patients is extremely rare and poses specific difficulties for clinicians. We report a case of a pregnant woman presenting with an unknown abdominal tumor. Through the use of magnetic resonance imaging, multiple differential diagnoses were proposed, including a malignant ovarian tumor. A cesarean section and explorative laparotomy were conducted, revealing Krukenberg metastases of a gastric tumor, discovered during intraoperative gastroscopy. Tumor resection with concomitant chemotherapy was conducted. The main aim of this paper was to evaluate whether earlier diagnosis seems possible in such cases. A thorough literature review was conducted, unfortunately revealing no reliable method for early detection. Furthermore, no consensus regarding diagnostics or therapy exists to date. Thus, more research should be conducted regarding this rare condition to offer recommendations regarding early detection, diagnostics, and therapeutic approaches.

The Great Mimicker: Pseudo-Meig Syndrome in a Pregnant Patient. A Review

Meig syndrome is the triad of benign ovarian tumor, ascites, and pleural effusion. Pseudo-Meig syndrome mimics the Meig syndrome triad; however, in pseudo-Meig syndrome, the ovarian tumor usually represents a primary malignancy or metastases. Differentiating Meig from pseudo-Meig syndrome is challenging both clinically and with diagnostic imaging but is important because prognoses for these distinct entities are drastically different. Evidence-based sonographic prediction models are valuable because they can aid in this distinction. Here, we present the first reported case of pseudo-Meig syndrome secondary to large, bilateral Krukenberg tumors of unknown origin, in a gravid 30-year-old woman at 24 weeks' gestation, discovered initially by ultrasound.

Feto-maternal outcomes of pregnancy complicated by Krukenberg tumor: a systematic review of literature

PURPOSE

Krukenberg tumor is a rare type of ovarian cancer with a poor prognosis, and little is known about its behavior during pregnancy.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted to identify pregnancies complicated by Krukenberg tumor, correlated to oncologic and neonatal outcomes (n = 35).

RESULTS

Mean age of cases was 30.4 years, and the most common origin of primary cancer was the stomach (68.6 %) followed by the colon (14.3 %). The two most common presenting symptoms were abdominal/pelvic pain (51.4 %) and nausea/vomiting (48.6 %). Two-thirds of tumors were bilateral (65.7 %) and the average size was 16.7 cm. Ascites (45.7 %), carcinomatosis (25.7 %) and non-ovarian distant metastases (14.3 %) were found at the time of surgery. Chemotherapy was administered in 20 cases, with fetal exposure in two of these. The ovarian tumor was identified prior to the primary cancer diagnosis in all 28 cases. The overall number of live births was 27 (81.8 %). The median survival was 6 months after Krukenberg tumor diagnosis. In univariate analysis, decreased overall survival was associated with dyspnea, ascites, carcinomatosis, non-radical surgery for the primary cancer, and residual disease at surgery (all, p < 0.05). On multivariate analysis, dyspnea and carcinomatosis remained independent prognostic factors for decreased overall survival after Krukenberg tumor diagnosis (2-year overall survival rates, dyspnea 0 vs. 56.6 %, adjusted-hazard ratio [HR] 9.74, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.04-46.2, p < 0.01; and carcinomatosis, 0 vs. 58.1 %, adjusted-HR 7.95, 95 % CI 1.76-36.0, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results showed that prognosis of Krukenberg tumor complicated pregnancies is extremely poor, however it may be improved if radical surgery is achievable.

Challenges of Fertility Sparing Ovarian Surgery Imposed by Krukenberg Tumors in Pregnancy

Fertility sparing surgery is advocated for reproductive-age women with benign and borderline ovarian tumors. The hormonal milieu of pregnancy may, however, complicate the decision making process. The patient presented in the third trimester with a rapidly growing tumor that was diagnosed as benign steroid cell tumor by intraoperative frozen section. Fertility-sparing surgery with right oophorectomy and partial left oophorectomy was performed. The final pathology examination demonstrated signet cells staining positive for mucin, which is pathognomonic for Krukenberg tumors. Krukenberg cells were overlooked in the frozen section due to the predominance of hormonally active luteinized ovarian stroma cells. This case highlights the challenges associated with fertility sparing surgery in women presenting with ovarian tumors in pregnancy and the limitations of frozen section in providing an accurate diagnosis.

Gastric cancer with pregnancy: two case reports

Gastric cancer with pregnancy is quite rare, and is often diagnosed at advanced stages with poor prognosis. This highlights the need to improve diagnosis by means of early endoscopy. We herein report two cases of advanced gastric cancer during pregnancy who sadly died within five weeks of diagnosis, to alert clinicians to this rare disease.

Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule as the first sign of pregnancy-associated gastric cancer: A case report

Sister Mary Joseph’s nodule is an inconspicuous and uncommon clinical sign of advanced malignant disease, especially gastric cancer. Pregnancy-associated gastric cancer is an extremely rare condition and can be difficult to diagnose, due to the absence or misinterpretation of symptoms as pregnancy-related. Diagnostic aids, such as a basic chemistry panel and imaging techniques, may not show any abnormalities. We present a case of a 37-year-old pregnant patient whose umbilical nodule was the first presenting physical sign of gastric cancer, which had metastasized throughout the abdominal and pelvic regions.

Krukenberg tumor in pregnancy. The lethal outcome

Krukenberg tumor refers to gastrointestinal cancer metastatic to the ovaries and its prognosis is uniformly poor. This case report concerns a 38-year-old pregnant woman suffering from abdominal pain and iterative vomiting episodes. She presented with a large abdominopelvic tumor. Because of suspected ovarian torsion, we performed urgent surgery. At laparotomy, bilateral ovarian tumors, ascites and gastric cancer located at the cardia and the lesser curvature invading the serosa were identified. We performed right ovariectomy, resection of the left ovary, and gastric biopsy. Histological examination of the specimen yielded diagnosis of Krukenberg tumor. Ten days later the patient underwent an elective Cesarean section in the 25th gestational week because of fetal asphyxia and very poor maternal life prognosis. We performed Cesarean delivery and extracted a vital female newborn of 31 cm, 600 g, Ap score 3, with virilization. Few days later the baby died at the intensive care unit. Two weeks later the mother died because of pulmonary failure.

Gastric carcinoma diagnosed at the third trimester: a case report

Gastric carcinoma associated with pregnancy appears to be an extremely rare entity. It is usually diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease and presents a grave prognosis. Since the fatal outcome shows a rapid course within months of diagnosis, prompt gastroduodenal endoscopic examination following early clinical suspicion is mandatory. A case of 29 year-old pregnant woman with 31 weeks of gestation is herein presented. The women was diagnosed as gastric adenocarcinoma while being investigated for intractable nausea, vomiting, and a concomitant epigastric mass. She underwent radical gastric resection and received six cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy following vaginal delivery of a healthy 1950 g fetus. The patient was dead 20 weeks after the surgery due to pulmonary and hepatic metastasis.

[Krukenberg tumor secondary to gastric carcinoma in a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy]

The association of gastric cancer and pregnancy is rare. The cases reported by non-Japanese authors are unusual. Tumors tend to be in advanced stage when diagnosed since the symptoms of gastric cancer are easily presumed to be secondary to those of normal pregnancy. We report the case of a 43-year-old female with gastric carcinoma presenting as a Krukenberg's tumor in the eighth month of gestation. A healthy child was born and after delivery, partial gastrectomy was performed and adjuvant chemotherapy was administered. The patient died 12 months after diagnosis.

Gastric cancer in pregnancy: do pregnancy, age or female sex alter the prognosis? Case reports and review

The coincidence of gastric cancer and pregnancy is a rare event. By literature research of the last three decades only 31 cases from outside Japan were identified including two own patients. The analysis of these and another 61 cases from Japan revealed the same predominance of poorly differentiated diffuse carcinomas with peritoneal and lymphatic metastases as in other young patients (<40 years). The survival rate is not obviously affected by pregnancy, young age or female sex. Experimental and epidemiological data suggest a protective effect of oestrogen against the induction of (intestinal) gastric cancer, while the cancer growth itself seems to be enhanced. Oestrogen receptors (ER) are found in about 22% of gastric cancer cells, especially in the poorly differentiated type. In contrast to target organs like the breast, ER in gastric cancer seem to be a sign of tumour adaptation involving e.g. the pathway of the epidermal growth factor. The results of treatment with anti-oestrogen are controversial in experimental and clinical settings. Due to the very common epigastric complaints early diagnosis of gastric cancer is even more difficult in pregnancy, so that early gastroscopy is advisable in patients on risk. Main effort should be given, however, to primary prevention.