Serous Bordeline Tumour

[MiaMeme]

Hi I am 40, never had children yet in November I had a cyst removed. On the follw up appointment I was told I dont have cancer but the cyst showed abmormal cells. They are calling it a serous borderline tumour. My consultant wants me to have a total hysterectomy because the CA-125 kept coming back normal even though the tumour was abnormal. Can someone please help me make sense of this.

[gls2824]

Hi MiaMeme.  there is a discussion on borderline tumors on this site.  Just search under "borderline."

I had an atypical proliferating serous tumor, 10cm, removed last year.  I had a full hysterectomy, BSO, etc., etc., but I'm 55 (and lucky -- these kinds of tumors generally happen to younger women -- in older women it's usually full blown cancer).  I was staged 1C.  Staging is NOT subjective, but can only be done if you have tissue samples taken from in and around the tumor.  I had lymph nodes, stomach lining, lower colon, washings,etc., all biopsied.

Yes, get a second opinion, just in case but you should be ok.  APSTs generally behave benignly.  If it does reoccur surgery is usually the treatment (no chemo).  My doctor said in his 30 years of practice he's never seen a recurrence of APST.

Good luck!

[cjan222]

I would definitely get a second opinion.  I had a serous tumor too and my CA125 before surgery was well below 35.  I've also been told that sometimes these tumors actually originate in the colon or something, so I'm getting a colonoscopy just in case.  From my experience, all these calls about staging and pathology are pretty subjective, so every set of eyes helps.

[chelan3]

Hi I was 32 when diagnosed with serous borderline ovarian cancer in 2002.  This type of tumor looks like cancer but doesn't act like cancer.  Because borderline pathology is tricky my doctor recommended a second opinion on the pathology just to make sure.  At the time I had my diagnosis they recommended a total hysterectomy as well.  Which I had a year and half later.  Nowadays, once the diagnosis is confirmed to be borderline, they tend to not recommend hysterectomies anymore.  CA-125 is not a test for ovarian cancer, in other words you can have cancer and it come back normal.  Likewise it can also be elevated from other things such as your period, infection, regular cysts, etc.  
If you haven't already I would recommend you see a gynocologist oncologist who specialize in this sort of thing and get their opinion.  I would also highly recommend a second opinion on the pathology of your cyst to confirm a borderline diagnosis as the pathology is tricky for this diagnosis.
I still had regular 6 mos follow-ups with a yearly CT scan for 5 yrs after my diagnosis. I've been fine ever since.

Hope this helps!