The State of Perplexity During Management of Gall Bladder Malignancy in an Expectant Young Mother

Abstract

During pregnancy, diagnosed cancer causes a major disturbance in the life of a pregnant woman and her family. The advanced stage of illness requiring systemic treatment inevitably leads the treating practitioner, with two lives at risk, into an ethical dilemma. The unborn child can be affected by the application of cancer medication to the mother as it is exposed to fetotoxic drugs. On the other hand, withholding therapy to allow fetal maturity may make the disease of the mother metastatic. Gall bladder carcinoma is often diagnosed as an unresectable disease (metastatic or locally advanced) due to its nonspecific symptomatology and carries the worst prognosis of any gastrointestinal or hepatobiliary neoplasm. We report a case of locally advanced gall bladder cancer (GBC) diagnosed during late pregnancy wherein the mother opted to continue the pregnancy without any intervention. A review of literature has been done to investigate the role of female hormones in a pregnancy complicating GBC with emphasis on management dilemma and the associated pitfalls.