Incidental diagnosis of a pancreatic adenocarcinoma in a woman affected by gestational diabetes mellitus: case report and literature review

Pancreatic cancer is rarely diagnosed during pregnancy; it usually manifests with symptoms such as epigastric pain, vomiting, weight loss and jaundice rarely mimicking HELLP syndrome. It has been postulated a correlation between the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus and the occurrence of pancreatic cancer later in life. We conducted an expert literature review of the available 31 documented pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed during pregnancy. We also reported the first pancreatic adenocarcinoma incidentally suspected in an asymptomatic woman affected by gestational diabetes mellitus undergoing a fetal growth scan.