Does Ovarian Cancers metastasize to the Brain?

msfanciful

Hello,

I had to post this because as of late, I had a friend and now see a couple of our warriors who it appears their ovca has met to the brain?

I was told that ovarian cancers are generally limited to the trunk/torso region that it originated in and that it typically doen't mets to the brain regions.

Was I given incorrect information about this?

Or since ovarian cancers and peritoneal cancers or the same (not quite understanding how this works yet), but are these peritoneal cancers that are metastazing to the brain? Or both?

I will pose this question to my gynecological oncologist again just to make sure.

Just checking to see if anyone knows anything about this.

Thanks

Sharon

lindaprocopio

I think everyone's cancer is as individual as a snowflake.
Each person's cancer goes where it wants to go, ignoring the percentages and statistics. I was told that the metastisis in the lymph node under my arm happened only .03% of the time for my type of cancer. (In fact it was rare enough that they ordered a biopsy to see if it might be a different primary cancer! It wasn't. It was mets.) Did my own particular cancer-beast care about that? NO.

I do believe that your assumption about what USUALLY happens with OVA disease progression is correct. But I just think you can never know whether you will be the norm, or the exception, to ANY of the statistics. There's a GOOD side to this, though. SOMEONE has to be the 0 to 5% that gets miraculously 'cured', (i.e., the endless remission!)

srwruns

Because I had a headache two
Because I had a headache two weeks ago during my scan and of course "went there" with brain mets anxiety, at the follow up I asked my gynonc about OVCA mets to the brain. She said, "it's only 1%". I felt relieved knowing that pollen issues are huge around here now then logging on and finding out about Leesa. Troubling to say the least but living in constant fear and anxiety is not a high quality of life either.

Unknown

srwruns said:

Because I had a headache two
Because I had a headache two weeks ago during my scan and of course "went there" with brain mets anxiety, at the follow up I asked my gynonc about OVCA mets to the brain. She said, "it's only 1%". I felt relieved knowing that pollen issues are huge around here now then logging on and finding out about Leesa. Troubling to say the least but living in constant fear and anxiety is not a high quality of life either.

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Hissy_Fitz

It's rare, but certainly
It's rare, but certainly possible. There is a member on Inspire that has had mets to the brain.

And with Leesa, they are not yet certain that her brain tumors are from the OC. As Ken said, when OC does spread to the brain, it usually goes other places, too and that does not seem to be the case with Leesa.

It's crazy how this stuff spreads. If they biopsy a brain tumor, they can tell if it's ovarian cancer, or some other organ's cancer. It's not uncommon for people to have more than one primary cancer.

My doctor's nurse told me that they

Carlene

Unknown

Hissy_Fitz said:

It's rare, but certainly
It's rare, but certainly possible. There is a member on Inspire that has had mets to the brain.

And with Leesa, they are not yet certain that her brain tumors are from the OC. As Ken said, when OC does spread to the brain, it usually goes other places, too and that does not seem to be the case with Leesa.

It's crazy how this stuff spreads. If they biopsy a brain tumor, they can tell if it's ovarian cancer, or some other organ's cancer. It's not uncommon for people to have more than one primary cancer.

My doctor's nurse told me that they

Carlene

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Cindy Bear

Hi Sharon
I too have heard that it is rare, but it can happen. When my mother was being treated (For uterine cancer) her oncologist mentioned a current patient he had , with recurrent ovarian that had mets to brain and was going to be getting whole brain radiation I believe. I do not know what type of ovarian or what treatment this person had prior to.
I think gdpawel's wife had brain mets with ovarian, maybe he will post, I know he's done extensive research on this subject.
Hugs,
Cindy

Mwee

there is this poster
in my ONC's exam rooms that shows that the brain is one of the places OVCA can travel to.
(((HUGS))) Maria

kayandok

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Nancy,
Greg posted an ariticle about this on May 29, 2001 in our archives. Did you read it? I found it interesting, and also disturbing, to be honest.
k

BrittanyC

Mwee said:

there is this poster
in my ONC's exam rooms that shows that the brain is one of the places OVCA can travel to.
(((HUGS))) Maria

Also, the bones.
My mom had
Also, the bones.

My mom had some in her bones, a few places on the spine, her clavicle, xyphoid process, sternum, and the pelvic bone.



It makes me sad to type this out. I believe that cancer doesn't discrimiate where it goes next

kayandok

Hissy_Fitz said:

It's rare, but certainly
It's rare, but certainly possible. There is a member on Inspire that has had mets to the brain.

And with Leesa, they are not yet certain that her brain tumors are from the OC. As Ken said, when OC does spread to the brain, it usually goes other places, too and that does not seem to be the case with Leesa.

It's crazy how this stuff spreads. If they biopsy a brain tumor, they can tell if it's ovarian cancer, or some other organ's cancer. It's not uncommon for people to have more than one primary cancer.

My doctor's nurse told me that they

Carlene

All the people I have read about
that get brain mets with OvCa (not many) have had a dx for years. So, my first thought was about another primary. I guess the biopsy will tell the story,
k

kikz

BrittanyC said:

Also, the bones.
My mom had
Also, the bones.

My mom had some in her bones, a few places on the spine, her clavicle, xyphoid process, sternum, and the pelvic bone.



It makes me sad to type this out. I believe that cancer doesn't discrimiate where it goes next

When I was going to my shrink
after treatment to make sure I was ok emotionally, she asked me where the ov/ca may surface. I had not even thought about that. That day I left the shrink feeling worse than when I got there. At my next appointment with my onc, I asked the question and her answer was that recurrence would be in the same area; that it does not show up somewhere else. Was she blowing smoke up my b*tt?

Karen

Lisa13Q

kikz said:

When I was going to my shrink
after treatment to make sure I was ok emotionally, she asked me where the ov/ca may surface. I had not even thought about that. That day I left the shrink feeling worse than when I got there. At my next appointment with my onc, I asked the question and her answer was that recurrence would be in the same area; that it does not show up somewhere else. Was she blowing smoke up my b*tt?

Karen

NO Karen
She was not blowing smoke up your butt......BUT (HAHA) usually when a recurrance occurs, it tends to begin at a place where there was dense cancer previously, but it can spread to anywhere.....my mother's doctor said ovca didn;t go the liver, well, my mother had a 12" tumor on her liver in the end....as did my grandmother and great grandmother....I think the hard part about this cancer is that it can spread anywhere because the ovaries are not contained...my mother's surgeon described it like spray paint....lung nodules are not uncommon either.....it's a challenge because it it so unique...

Cafewoman53

Brain Mets
From what I have read it is not the "normal" area for recurrance but for most of us normal went out the window with our diagnosis.
Some people think that the chemo breaks down the blood/brain barrier that prevents the cancer cells from getting to the brain , so it is a catch 22. We need the chemo,
Also as we are living longer with more treatments it is giving the cancer more time to spread to different sites. But the little I have read I think they do very well with dealing with these mets when they are found.
Greg is a great source of information on this and everything. Bottom line if you have that feeling something is wrong,just not right, make your Dr prove you wrong. You know your body and you are your best advocate on this sucky journey.
Colleen

Barbara53

one percent paper
Sharon, there may be more recent papers, but this review of lit from 2006 gives the 1 percent number. It's a crazy disease.

http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/11/3/252.full

poopergirl14052

Barbara53 said:

one percent paper
Sharon, there may be more recent papers, but this review of lit from 2006 gives the 1 percent number. It's a crazy disease.

http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/11/3/252.full

yes it does
One of my chemo partners had it spread to her brain, but sadly she didn't make it....val

Radioactive34

Barbara53 said:

one percent paper
Sharon, there may be more recent papers, but this review of lit from 2006 gives the 1 percent number. It's a crazy disease.

http://theoncologist.alphamedpress.org/content/11/3/252.full

Numbers
In the first meeting the oncologist said it could spread to all parts of the body. He did not say it could not happen to me. He said I already won the wrong lottery and got a rare disease that only a slim X people get. Percents were not in my favor.

Though...here I go playing the fence... I think I got the disease that only Xnth percentage get....so I was that "lucky." Maybe I will be part of the lucky "X" percent that beat the odds.

R34

gdpawel

Ovarian cancer and brain metastases
During the past fifteen years it has been frequently observed that more and more patients are presenting central nervous system (CNS) involvement as the only evidence of disease progression. It seems that retrospective studies in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer do not differ among patients who relapsed with isolated brain metastases and those with relapse outside the CNS.

The trafficking of cancer cells to their final destination may be guided by factors produced by stromal cells of their host organ. For example, Melanoma cells are closely related to CNS cells. Breast cancer cells more commonly are found in the posterior pituitary. Renal, gastrointestinal and pelvic are cancers tend to metastasize to the cerebellum. My wife's solitary brain met was to the cerebellum.

An article in Gynecologic Oncology (Volume 92, Issue 3, March 2004, Pages 978-980) by John P. Micha, et al, Gynecologic Oncology Associates, Hoag Memorial Hospital Cancer Center, Newport Beach, CA states that brain metastases resulting from primary ovarian cancer are supposedly rare, however, there have been recent studies suggesting an increased incidence of brain metastases (PubMed PMID: 14984970).

After the demise of my wife, I've done a decade of cancer research. During that time, I found out about what is called "dissemination after taxane-based (Taxol) chemotherapy," which is a frequent protocol for ovarian cancer patients. I wrote a paper, "Who Needs Taxol" which summarized all the material I've found over the years on it. I've posted it on cancerfocus.org on the Main Category threads under "Common chemotherapy drug triggers fatal allergic reactions."

Greg

carolenk

gdpawel said:

Ovarian cancer and brain metastases
During the past fifteen years it has been frequently observed that more and more patients are presenting central nervous system (CNS) involvement as the only evidence of disease progression. It seems that retrospective studies in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer do not differ among patients who relapsed with isolated brain metastases and those with relapse outside the CNS.

The trafficking of cancer cells to their final destination may be guided by factors produced by stromal cells of their host organ. For example, Melanoma cells are closely related to CNS cells. Breast cancer cells more commonly are found in the posterior pituitary. Renal, gastrointestinal and pelvic are cancers tend to metastasize to the cerebellum. My wife's solitary brain met was to the cerebellum.

An article in Gynecologic Oncology (Volume 92, Issue 3, March 2004, Pages 978-980) by John P. Micha, et al, Gynecologic Oncology Associates, Hoag Memorial Hospital Cancer Center, Newport Beach, CA states that brain metastases resulting from primary ovarian cancer are supposedly rare, however, there have been recent studies suggesting an increased incidence of brain metastases (PubMed PMID: 14984970).

After the demise of my wife, I've done a decade of cancer research. During that time, I found out about what is called "dissemination after taxane-based (Taxol) chemotherapy," which is a frequent protocol for ovarian cancer patients. I wrote a paper, "Who Needs Taxol" which summarized all the material I've found over the years on it. I've posted it on cancerfocus.org on the Main Category threads under "Common chemotherapy drug triggers fatal allergic reactions."

Greg

Taxol doesn't agree with everyone
Dear Greg

I think people should be tested for compatability with the taxol chemos before they are treated with them. I had a neurotoxic reaction from Taxol and it was pretty scary.

Thanks, as always, for your posting.

Carolen

Hissy_Fitz

carolenk said:

Taxol doesn't agree with everyone
Dear Greg

I think people should be tested for compatability with the taxol chemos before they are treated with them. I had a neurotoxic reaction from Taxol and it was pretty scary.

Thanks, as always, for your posting.

Carolen

Taxol seems to be an either
Taxol seems to be an either or proposition. For me, it was definitely a good thing. I had 18 infusions of the stuff and no side effects. For those who can tolerate Taxol, I think it's almost a miracle drug. It's too bad that it is so toxic to so many.

Carlene

leesag

Prognosis per my Radiation Oncologist and Neurosurgeon
I didn't mean to send people into a panic when I posted that I had Brain Mets! Here are the good things...

First, my neurosurgeon has only seen 6 cases of OVCA Brain Mets since 1973, and I have no idea how many of those ladies followed the abdominal recurrence to brain mets progression that is most common. (My brain mets was an express trip to the brain, non-stop.)

Second, my radiation oncologist who is doing the gamma knife told me that there is an 80%-90% chance of NEVER having another brain lesion, other numbers I've heard are as high as 95% of NEVER having another brain lesion.

Things to pay attention to: headache, balance issues, dysgraphia (trouble writing) expressive aphasive (difficulty finding words) motor issues, seizures, changes in personality.

My symptoms were picked up by my husband: expressive aphasia (and that was it)

Don't be afraid to ask for a head MRI, at the very least, you'll be reassured by the fact that you have a brain!

Hugs and Health!

Leesa