mucinous ovarian carcinoma

[sammi254]

last year i was diagnosed with stage 1a mucinous ovarian carcinoma, it was a normal surgeon that operated to remove the tumor, not a gynea oncologist, as they thought it was an ovarian cyst, during surgery the tumour ruptured. My clinical oncologist and my gynea oncologist were unaware that the tumor ruptured and that the surgery was'nt performed by a gynea oncologist untill this week when i mentioned it. After the surgery to remove the tumour i did have a radical hysterectomy which was performed by my oncologist, i did'nt have chemo or any other treatment, now i am really worried that i might have been under staged. what do you think the chances of this are and what would happen now if that was the case? i'm 32 and the surgery was done 15 moths ago, i have a ca-125 blood test every 6 months and see my oncologist every 3 months. thankyou sammi.

[marie3B]

Jon is so right about the CA125.  Mine is 2.  That is about as low as it goes, but I have active cancer in several areas.  With my type of cancer, the CEA was elevated with this last recurrence.  C19-9 tumor maker test is sometimes an indicator for some mucinous cancers, but not mine.  I do hpoe they opt to give you chemo. Marie

[jr1971]

As Marie says, Stage 1 Mucinous has a very good prognosis. Mucinous tumours seem to become more invasive as they remain in the body so they become increasingly difficult to treat. My wife had Stage 3a Mucinous and has not been disease free since her diagnosis 14 months ago.

The stage would normally change from Stage 1a to Stage 1c with a ruptured ovary - still stage 1!!

Many people choose to have some chemo at stage 1c in order to be safe. I think it would be worth considering and discussing with your doctors.

It also seems to be the case that CA125 is a much less reliable test in Mucinous tumours. My wife has had "normal" CA125 tests at and since diagnosis. If I were you I would be talking to your doctor about other means of monitoring you. The only test that works for my wife is to have a PET scan. It might be something to consider asking your doctor about if you want to rid yourself on any uncertainty (PET scans only pick up deposits of >5mm so they won't detect anything microscopic - chemo should deal with that).

Jon

[marie3B]

Mucinous ovarian cancers found in early stages are one of the easier ovarian cancers to beat. USUALLY, there are exceptions of course.  Found past stage 3 mucinous cancers are tough to beat. With the ruptured tumor I would prefer to do a round of chemo to be safer. I would also ask the gyn/onc if a second surgery to be sure you were staged properly would be a good idea.  I wish you the best.  I have mucinous cystadenocarcinoma diagnosed at stage 3B/C, grade 1. I am on my second recurrence of active cancer.  I am a 3 yr 3 month survivor. Marie