Florescent bony mass found during D&C...could it be cancer?

[Touchdown99]

Hi everyone, I hope I am posting this in the right forum, I didn't see a forum for uterine cancer (is there one), and I am posting for my mother. My mother, who is 64, had been experiencing some light postmenapausal bleeding in late February, that was the only time this happened. She immediately made an appointment with her doctor and they performed a D&C this week. In the D&C, the doctor said that he found a polyp (which he removed), and he said he found something that he has never seen before in his entire career (almost 30 years)....he said it was a mass that appeared to be "like a bone" and was shiny and hard and appeared "florescent". He was completely baffled and was only able to remove a small part of it to be tested for cancer. We should know the results in a couple of weeks. Of course our family is very worried. He said Mom would have to have a hysterectomy either way, whether it is just a really strange calcium deposit or whether it is cancer or something else. Any thoughts on what this strange mass could be or any thoughts from anyone in general who has any experiences or knowledge or insight? Or is there a different place on MedHelp that should also post this? Thanks and have a wonderful morning.

[Touchdown99]

Thank you so much for the information and the encouragement. I can't thank you enough. I hope that means that the tissue wasn't bad, but why in the world would he say he had never seen anything like this. I don't know if this means anything, but in his attempted biopsy a couple of weeks ago, he said he was unable to get any tissue due to Mom's lining being thin....does that mean anything? We are scheduled to meet with the Dr. this week unless he reschedules, I don't know if he will let us know the D&C results then or not.

[AnnieBrooke]

Healthy tissue fluoresces, unhealthy tissue does not, according to another website I checked.

[Touchdown99]

That's really interesting, I had actually wondered if it might be something odd like that, and I pray it is anything non-cancerous. My Dad, who met with the Dr. right after Mom's D&C wonders now if the Dr said it was actually hard, but knows that he said it was shiny and smooth "like a bone" and that it appeared florescent (which I guess means it appeared florescent under light). I think Dad was stressed. When something shows up as florescent does that have any bearing on whether or not it might be cancerous? I really appreciate everyone's input and help.

[AnnieBrooke]

You might also look up lithopedeons.  They are very rare, and I'm not suggesting she has that, but the process of calcifying a foreign intrusion into the uterus is interesting to read about.  Her body might have done that with a fibroid.  I would try to stop worrying about cancer, it just doesn't seem to fit the profile.  All the best to your mom.

[Touchdown99]

Thanks, you're probably right. That would definitely make more sense. I wonder if cancer tends to show up as florescent?

[AnnieBrooke]

I believe when a doc says something is fluorescent, he is talking about what it looks like under a certain kind of light (a uv light, I think).  He did not mean it came out of her body glowing.

[Touchdown99]

Thank you for the encouragement, I hope you are right. The more I think about it, the Dr may have said it was "smooth and shiny" like a bone and florescent, I'm second-guessing myself about whether or not he said it was "hard". I've looked up some rare forms of cancer, Is a papillary serous the most agressive and dangerous uterine cancer? What does it look like? I just can't understand how a mass could be florescent and why he would say he had never saw anything like this in his 27 year career.

[AnnieBrooke]

Sounds more like a dermoid cyst, which are benign.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermoid_cyst

Tell her good luck, cancer in the uterus would not be bony, I don't think.