What's the difference between HIGH and Low Grade Papillary Serous Adencarcinoma(adenocarcinoma)

I thought when I got my diagnosis that because I was Type 1 this was a good thing in so far as type 1 was the slowest growing and most "normal" looking of cancer cells but now I'm confused b/c there is a distinction within type one between High and Low grade. What is this distinction? What are the implications in terms of future possible/ probable complications....I'm so comfused...Please help...Thanks.

Christina

[Angie_Lou]

Dear Christina,

I always wondered about this, too.  So, as curious would have it, I looked it up on Wikipedia and you can look this up as well under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grading_(tumors)

Basically, the lower the grade, the more differentiated the tumor is.  Differentiated is described (in Wikipdia) as: (biology) (of a cell, or tissue) That has taken on a specialized form and function.

Okay, so in my layman's brain; low grade cells are unique and not as common as high grade cells.  I also read somewhere that low grade cells may not respond as well to conventional therapies as high grade cells do and therefore may need extra medical 'tweeking' when it comes to the type of therapy used in treating low grade tumors.

I just looked at my pathology report (was dx stage 3C two years ago), and as far as type, there is no number next to it... its just type 'serous adenocarcinoma.'  And my grade is high.  So, I have what falls in the category of 'common' type of ovarian cancer cells.

Cautionary note: Please discuss your pathology report with your doctor and ask him/her what it all means.  I'm not a doctor and only passing along what I read and how I understood what I read.  Also, Wikipedia is as accurate as the Internet can allow and not everything listed is as factual as possible.  However, it's a fast source of information when looking up something quickly.

My best to you and I hope this was of some help.  Angie

[Tybear]

You actually have what's called Grade one cancer, not "type" one. Grade one cancers are slower growing cells and because chemo works well on fast dividing cells (which is why we lose our hair during treatments...hair is fast dividing cells) Grade one cancers can often be harder to treat. I have grade one, stage 3c Micropapillary serous carcinoma, or MPSC. I was told that there's a small chance that chemo will work on this type of cancer. I did try a drug called Avastin which isn't "really" chemo, and it seemed to work well initially, but it had no effect the second time I tried it.
Grade one cancers are well differentiated cells which means they look the most like our normal cells. Grade 3 cells are poorly differentiated - they look the least like normal cells.
I know it can all get confusing but I appreciate that your trying to learn all you can about this stuff...knowledge is power when it comes to battling this disease.
Becky