Disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow from gastric cancer during pregnancy.
Shotaro KinoshitaKohei YamashitaMasaaki IwatsukiHiroki SatoChihiro MatsumotoTakashi MatsumotoYuta ShiraishiNaoya YoshidaHideo BabaPublished in: Clinical journal of gastroenterology (2019)
Gastric cancer during pregnancy is extremely rare and difficult to diagnose at early stages because of its nature. Furthermore, it is often difficult to determine the appropriate treatment strategy considering both the patient's condition and the effect of the treatment on the fetus. We present a case of a 34-year-old woman with gastric cancer who was 22 weeks pregnant and had multiple liver and bone metastases at the time of diagnosis. The disease progressed to disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow, in which cancer invades and spreads diffusely to the bone marrow and then presents disseminated intravascular coagulation. Fortunately, the selected systematic chemotherapy dramatically reduced the severity of the patient's cancer and she could deliver her baby successfully. There are few reports of disseminated carcinomatosis of the bone marrow from gastric cancer during pregnancy. Even in such an oncological emergency, prompt chemotherapy saved the mother's life and enabled safe delivery of the fetus.