Author

Abstract

MANAGEMENT OF COLORECTAL CANCER DURING PREGNANCY
Majeed H Alwan
MBChB, FRCSEd, FRACS, FACS, Gastrointestinal and General Surgeon, Tauranga Hospital, Tauranga, New Zealand. E-mail: majeedalwan@xtra.co.nz
Abstract Although cancer in pregnancy is uncommon, several types of cancer were encountered. These include malignant melanoma, breast cancer, carcinoma of the cervix, bladder cancer, renal cancer, lymphomas, thyroid cancer, brain tumours, ovarian cancer, gastric and pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer. Due to the uncommon incidence of the disease and therefore the limited experience coupled with the complexity of the situation which could affect the wellbeing of the foetus and mother, then the management of the pregnant woman with cancer might result in achieving less than the expected optimum. However, from the experience of single case reports and short reviews a reasonable management approach could be reached through multidisciplinary speciality collaboration. The author had encountered two pregnant women with colon cancer, both of them were symptomatic, and one of them had bowel obstruction. Their clinical presentation, diagnosis and management are described followed by a concise review of the literature.