Metastatic gastric cancer to the female genital tract

Abstract

Metastases to the female genital tract from gastric cancer are rare, but they significantly worsen the prognosis of such patients. The potential routes for metastasis to the female genital tract from gastric cancer include hematogenous spread, lymphatic spread and surface implantation. The rate of lymphatic metastasis to the ovary from gastric cancer has been reported to be higher compared with that from colorectal cancer. Uterine or Fallopian tube metastases are usually secondary to ovarian metastases, which are typically identified prior to the detection of gastric cancer in half of all synchronous cases, with complaints of abdominal distention, pain, palpable mass, or abnormal uterine bleeding. The prognosis of patients with female genital tract metastases from gastric cancer is extremely poor, and is worse compared with that of other primary sites, such as the breast and colorectum. In the past, surgical intervention in such patients consisted mainly of palliative resection to relieve the symptoms associated with a sizeable pelvic mass. However, recent retrospective studies based on a relatively small number of patients have reported that surgical tumor debulking plus chemotherapy may improve the prognosis of patients with metastatic ovarian cancer originating from gastric cancer.