Borderline tumor?

[jackaroo1223]

I had a very large (about the size of a head of lettuce or cantelope) tumor removed, along with my right ovary and fallopian tube, last week. They were sent to a pathologist, who said they were borderline. After doing research on the internet, it seems like that term means "low malignancy". However, it can still recur, and now I only have one ovary and fallopian tube left, which concerns me.

My doctor referred me to an oncologist and I am waiting to hear from them to set up an appointment. However, I am concerned because of how large this tumor was. Does this mean it was pretty advanced? What are the odds of it coming back in the other ovary? Would it be recommended to request frozen tissue samples be sent to another pathology lab for another opinion?

I'm only 22. I just suffered a miscarriage and want to be sure this won't jeopardize my fertility and ability to have children down the road. It's worrying me quite a bit and I'm losing sleep over it, particularly due to cancer in my family's medical history as well. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[Cindy809]

Hello....I found this information at medline:

BACKGROUND. Ovarian tumors of borderline malignancy have a less aggressive behavior and tend to occur at a younger age than their invasive counterparts. The role and extent of fertility-sparing conservative treatments is under continuous evaluation. METHODS. The current study was a retrospective review of 82 patients with confirmed borderline tumors diagnosed over a 25-year period, with special focus on fertility-associated issues. RESULTS. Follow-up was available for 96% of the patients, for a total of 357 women-years of follow-up. Thirty-nine patients underwent conservative management. Of these, only three patients had a contralateral recurrence. Two of the three again opted for conservative management and were without evidence of disease at last follow-up. Seventeen patients did benefit from contralateral ovarian dissection either by cystectomy or oophorectomy because of contralateral benign or borderline disease. Eleven patients had received or were scheduled to receive ovulation induction. Five patients were diagnosed during the evaluation, and another two were diagnosed so soon after the initiation of ovulation induction that a causative relationship appeared to be unlikely. Six patients were diagnosed during ongoing pregnancies. Twenty-two pregnancies were achieved in 15 patients after conservative treatment. No influence of the disease or its treatment on the pregnancy (or vice versa) was observed during a mean follow-up of 69 months. CONCLUSIONS. Data are accumulating that indicate conservative fertility-sparing disease management is adequate treatment for patients with borderline tumors. Available data indicate that in these patients fertility, pregnancy outcome, and survival remain excellent.  It looks like a baby is in the future with conservative treatment!  Hope this helps....Cindy

[survivor_susie]

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your recent tumor.  I have known two women who also had large (grapefruit-sized) tumors removed and the tumors were not even cancerous.  So, size doesn't determine malignancy.

Borderline probably means that the tumor might have been "pre-cancerous," which I understand is still very scary, but has a good prognosis for the future. As long as none of the washings have any cancer cells in them, you're very lucky!

Many of us wish we'd had a hysterectomy years ago.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd have had one after I was sure I wasn't planning to have any more children.  I'd never have been a member of this forum if I'd had the surgery earlier...

Just be careful and get regular checkups.

Best wishes to you!