Fallopian-Tube Cancer

What Is It?

Fallopian tubes are the passageways that connect the ovaries and the uterus. Fallopian-tube cancer occurs when cells in the fallopian tubes multiply out of control and form a tumor. As this tumor slowly grows, it can fill and eventually press against the inside of the fallopian tube, stretching the tubes and causing pelvic pain. Over time, the tumor also can invade the muscular wall of the fallopian tube, penetrate through the tube's outer surface and eventually spread throughout the pelvis and abdomen.

Fallopian-tube cancer is very rare. It accounts for less than 1 percent of all cancers of the female reproductive organs. Only 1,500 to 2,000 cases have been reported worldwide, primarily in postmenopausal women. It is more common for cancer to spread to a fallopian tube from elsewhere in the body (usually the ovary or endometrium) than for a new cancer to develop in the fallopian tube.

Scientists don't know whether any environmental or lifestyle factors increase the risk of this cancer. Researchers are looking at the possibility that there might be some genetic (inherited) tendency for developing the illness. In particular, there is some evidence that women who have inherited a mutation in the BRCA1 gene, a gene already linked to breast and ovarian cancer, also seem to have an increased risk of developing fallopian-tube cancer.

Symptoms

Symptoms of fallopian-tube cancer can include:

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding, especially after menopause
• Abdominal pain or a feeling of pressure in the abdomen
• Abnormal vaginal discharge (white, clear or pinkish)

These symptoms are not unique to fallopian-tube cancer. In fact, they occur more commonly as symptoms of other gynecological problems.

Diagnosis

Because fallopian-tube cancer is so rare, and its symptoms can resemble other problems, your doctor may suspect that you have some other gynecological problem. As a result, your doctor might ask you questions to evaluate your risk for gynecological infections, ovarian tumors or endometrial cancer. These conditions have symptoms similar to fallopian-tube cancer and are more common than fallopian-tube cancer.

In most cases, women don't learn they have fallopian-tube cancer until a fallopian tube has been removed surgically during surgery to treat another illness or problem, and is examined in a laboratory.

Expected Duration

Once it develops, fallopian-tube cancer continues to grow until surgery is done to remove it. Without surgical treatment, fallopian-tube cancer can spread to other organs in the pelvis and abdomen.