What Is Fallopian Tube Cancer?
Primary fallopian tube cancer is a rare malignant tumor of the female reproductive tract. Its incidence rate is only 0.5% of gynecological malignancies. Most of them are 40 to 65 years old, and most of them occur in postmenopausal women.
Basic Information
- English name
- primarycarcinomaoffallopiantube
- Visiting department
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Multiple groups
- Postmenopausal women
- Common symptoms
- Vaginal drainage, abdominal pain, pelvic mass
Causes of primary fallopian tube cancer
- The etiology of this disease is unknown. 70% of patients have obvious salpingitis and 50% have a history of infertility. Contralateral fallopian tubes of patients with unilateral fallopian tube cancer often have inflammatory changes after pathological examination. It is inferred that chronic inflammatory stimulation may be the cause of the disease. Chronic salpingitis is common, but patients with fallopian tube cancer are rare.
Clinical manifestations of primary fallopian tube cancer
- Symptoms and signs are often atypical or early asymptomatic, so it is easy to be ignored and delay diagnosis. Clinical manifestations are often vaginal drainage, abdominal pain, pelvic mass, the so-called "triple disease" of tubal cancer.
- Vaginal drainage
- Most commonly, the drainage is serous yellow water, which can be more or less, often intermittent, sometimes bloody, and usually no odor. Vaginal bleeding can occur when the cancer is necrotic or invades blood vessels.
- Abdominal pain
- Occurred mostly on the affected side, as dull pain, and gradually worsened with spastic colic. Pain is related to tumor volume and the accumulation of secretions that increase the pressure on the fallopian tubes. When water or bloody fluid is discharged from the vagina, the pain often eases.
- 3. Pelvic mass
- Some patients had lumps of the lower abdomen, of varying sizes, with smooth surfaces. Gynecological examination can cover the mass, which is located on one side or behind the uterus, and has limited or immobilized movement. The lump shrinks due to the discharge of fluid from the vagina, and it can grow again after the fluid has accumulated.
- 4. Ascites
- Rare, pale yellow, sometimes bloody.
Examination of primary fallopian tube cancer
- 1. Type B ultrasound
- Can determine the location, size, nature of the mass and the presence or absence of ascites.
- 2. Vaginal cytology
- Uterine and cervical cytology tests were negative, and atypical glandular epithelial ciliated cells were seen on the smear, suggesting the possibility of fallopian tube cancer.
- 3. Segmented curettage
- Cytological examination is adenocarcinoma. After excluding cervical cancer and endometrial cancer, fallopian tube cancer should be highly suspected.
- 4. Laparoscopy
- See the thickening of the fallopian tube, which looks like hydroscopic fallopian tube, in the form of eggplant, and sometimes see the vegetation.
- 5.CT, MRI examination
- CT and MRI are clearer than ultrasonography, and are more valuable for staging, whether the retroperitoneal lymph nodes are enlarged, and treatment judgment.
Diagnosis of primary fallopian tube cancer
- It is easy to be ignored because it is rare, the fallopian tube is not easy to reach in the pelvic cavity, the test is not easy to be accurate, the symptoms are not obvious, the preoperative diagnosis rate is very low, and it is often misdiagnosed. Evidence based examination and clinical manifestations can help confirm the diagnosis.
Differential diagnosis of primary fallopian tube cancer
- Tubal cancer and ovarian tumors are not easy to distinguish. Vaginal drainage needs to be distinguished from endometrial cancer. If tubal cancer cannot be ruled out, a laparotomy should be performed as soon as possible to confirm the diagnosis.
Treatment of primary fallopian tube cancer
- The principle of treatment is mainly surgery, and the comprehensive treatment of adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy should emphasize the thoroughness and planning of the first treatment. The scope of the operation should include a full uterus, bilateral appendages, and omentum resection. The tumor has spread to the pelvic cavity or abdominal cavity. It should be treated as ovarian epithelial cancer. The tumor should be removed as large as possible. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy were supplemented after the operation.