Can ovarian cancer spread to the breasts?

[ScardyCat40]

I've got some breast lumps and I'm waiting for the results of some biopsies so I was wondering if ovarian cancer can spread to the breasts. My initial internet research suggests that it is not usual as OC tends to spread throughout the abdominal cavity

[Hidden]

Hi ScardyCat,

I tried to search for OC spreading to the breast but have come up with nothing.. And don't know of anyone that his has happened to either so like you I don't think this is usual I don't want to scare you but some people have two different types of cancer but try not to worry and wait for the results I know this is almost impossible to do..and my heart goes out to you...try and fill your time thoughts an energy with other things...I am sending my love and best wishes x G x

[Hidden]

Hi Scardycat

When the mass on my ovaries was discovered earlier this year they were saying it must be the breast cancer I had 2 years ago having spread (turned out not to be, of course), so I suppose if it can happen this way round, it can happen the other. What seems to be more common, as Gwyn says, is two separate cancers.

Hopefully your lumps are nothing at all to worry about, as is so often the case with breast lumps, and I do hope you will find out soon.

Thinking of you, Moniquex

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Monique,

I think that breast cancer can spread to the ovaries, and it can then be still "breast cancer in the ovaries" and this is quite common ...but I am not sure that this is very common the other way round....as I have never heard of this ie. "ovarian cancer in the breast'" but I am not sure at all...I do agree with you that breast lumps are common without it necessarily being breast cancer...I went last week to see about a tiny lump in my breast but it is not cancer...best wishes to you both love x G x

[BJ_UK]

Hi Scardycat.

It's not a very common place for ovarian cancer to pop up, but it does happen occasionally. There's one fellow ovarian cancer sufferer on the Inspire site who was originally diagnosed with ovarian cancer, then later was told she had inflammatory breast cancer as well, only to find when the histology for the "breast" cancer came back that it was actually a spread of ovarian cancer all along. I'm sure that you could find her posts if you registered for the Inspire site then searched. (They won't come up in google because the posts are members only.)

I know it's impossible not to worry (and I'm as guilty of that as anyone!), but remember that all the worry in the world won't change anything and that you are doing the right thing in having the lumps investigated, and try to put it out of your mind at least some of the time.

Hugs,

Barbara

[MargaretJ in reply to BJ_UK]

Hi barbara! How does one find 'inspire'?

Margaret!

[Hidden in reply to MargaretJ]

Hi Margaret,

I have joined inspire but do not know how to put the link on sorry but if you google it you will find it...as it is another OC website but American (I think)

Love and best wishes and hope you are still enjoying your break x G x

[BJ_UK in reply to MargaretJ]

Here's a link to the Inspire web site: inspire.com/

It is a website providing facilities for a number of different health forums. The forum you want is the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance one. I'm pretty sure that when you register it guides you to that part of the website by asking you your health interests, though I actually found that forum long before I found this one, so my memory of how to join is a bit hazy.

Barbara

[Hidden in reply to BJ_UK]

Hi Barbara,

This is interesting,I have joined inspire but don't go on very often as I can't remember my password Doh!!...My guess is it can turn up anywhere then...but less likely to in some places...thanks for this information...best wishes x G x

[Hidden]

Hi Gwyn

For some reason it won't let me reply in the "reply to this box" - oh well. So glad your breast lump was harmless. I am going to attempt a smiley in celebration, last time I tried to do one it failed

Moniquex

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Monique,

I get that all the time...I think that's what happens to my poem blog...people give up commenting because it is so tiring when you've written and then disappears..thanks for persisting though as I like my smiley face with sunglasses (hoping for sun)...sometimes the boxes are very tiny as well Doh !! This is my second attempt..I went away and have now come back teehee love and best wishes x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Yes! Success! Haha

[MargaretJ]

Hi Scardycat!

Silly question I know but does it matter? Whatever it is it doesn't make a jot of difference where it started!

Breast lumps are often not cancerous! I had one some years ago! It turned out to be nothing and went away. My sis, on theother hand, had one that was removed last year! It is easy to say 'don't worry' but worrying will only make you feel worse and won't help.

Take each day at a time, do something you enjoy, relish life in all it's variety and don't let this b*****d disease take the joy out of life as well as everything else! My latin is lousy but I do remember a bit of latin doggerel that went "nihil illegitimi carborundum" which should, I think, be fairly easy to translate even for those who never met the language! I am in mind of the Suffragette anthem too and Dame Ethel Smythe bellowing it from her cell in Holloway! We won the vote, we won some rights, we can win against this! Than does not mean we can avoid death, no one can do that, but we can refuse to let it ruin our lives!

Every moment enjoyed is another triumph against this disease! 'shoulder to shoulder' and all that! Remember Lizzie! She was in there fighting and getting every last pleasure from life to the very end!

My sis says the lumpectomy was not too bad (and her general health is not good) and she got herself to and from radiotherapy! She is now dealing with a very sick husband who has had 3 TIA's, has diabetes, which he is ignoring and now has probable lung cancer! (80 a day until a few weeks back, now on nicotine patches). I look at my life and think 'thank goodness I am me!'.

Not easy to do but try not to worry! Try to think of it as your fight for life, not existence! Relish it to the full. Extending life has to mean more than just postponing death! Life, as they say, is a fatal, sexually transmitted, condition!

Love M

[ScardyCat40]

Yes it does matter actually because I think the treatment will be different and it means coming under another hospital. I know you mean well but I'm not going to beat myself up for worrying its a natural part of the process. As for letting it take the joy out of my life I'm not I'm currently on my way to Weston for a weeks holiday

[Hidden in reply to ScardyCat40]

Hi ScardyCat,

Yes you are right..it would be such a pain if it was a different type of cancer... as they do target each cancer type as a speciality to that particular cancer as it tends to work better...I am so sorry you have to go through this as you are young and shouldn't have this worry at all..I hope you have a good time in Weston...I am so intrigued how you met someone from Weston perhaps you'll tell me sometime? I met my husband on holiday in Cornwall many moons ago LOL Sending you my love and good wishes and hope you get a bit of sunshine !!! x G x

[MargaretJ in reply to ScardyCat40]

Sorry! How tactless of me! I hadn't thought of that! I didn't mean you should beat yourself up for worrying, that goes with the territory! I just meant that, a connection would make no difference if it were cancer! I had not realised you would have to go elsewhere for treatment! In my area it seems to be holistic and treatment continues where it started! Mind you, come to think of it, my sister was shunted about a bit for her treatment for breast cancer!

Do enjoy your holiday in Weston! We used to take the children on day trips when we lived in Swansea! Mind you, like Southport, I always seemed to miss the sea! If you are there for a week you should really see it in all its moods!

I do hope that the news is good when you get back!

I am enjoying South Devon (despite the rain) but i am beginning to hanker for home! Ten days is just a little too long to be away and I am dreading the 5 hour train journey on Sunday,

[ScardyCat40]

He's originally from the North West but I know him through a running website

[Hidden in reply to ScardyCat40]

Hi ScardyCat,

I am intriguid or a romantic (both) tell me more tell me more..uh huh uh huh ...

I thought that was Mamma Mia now I remember it's Grease LOL have a good time love x G x

[charlie12]

Hi Scardycat

So sorry that you have this additional worry.

I so hope you get the results quickly, that you have a decent well deserved break with lots of treats and that you will be out running again soon.

Love

Charlie xxxx

[ScardyCat40]

Charlie,

Stop running? Wash your mouth out young lady. I have arrived safely in Weston and was treated with homemade pikelets and lemon curd

[charlie12 in reply to ScardyCat40]

Weston sounds fabulous, I hope you have a wonderful time and that you get good news from those biopsies soon.

[Archiebanana]

Hi Scardycat

Have a great holiday and try to forget this at times. I know it is so hard, it just seems to take over our lives.

Love Linda xx

[MargaretJ]

Running? Is that the thing people do who don't trip over their feet all the time? And that was before the neuropathy! Actually my son and daughter in law both run and my youngest grandson has won a number of medals and cups this year! My sports were climbing and caving, 33 years of marriage to a couch potato put paid to those! Ma in law would hardly have approved of me dashing off to spend hours or even days in the company of strange men! I had taken up walking and cycling again since my divorce but post chemo exhaustion, neuropathy and now sciatica have severely limited these activities!

Keep on running! Apart from anything else they say that it releases endorphins and they help to fight the cancer!

Good luck!

M

[ScardyCat40]

I know what you mean about post chemo tiredness I tried to cycle during chemo. I got as far as a mile was completley wiped out and walked back home. Running post chemo has also had it challenges I was never fast anyway but now I am even slower It reminds me of the battle with cancer grrrrrrr

[TealSista]

HI SC40, I do know of one person who found lumps in her breast which represented a spread of the ovarian cancer that she had been diagnosed. I do hope that the lumps in your breast turn out to be nothing significant. Wishing you all the very best.

[Hidden in reply to TealSista]

Hi Adele,

Wow....thank you for this information...best wishe x G x

[TinaWright]

Hi Scardycat,

I really have shared your worry`s re; breast lump and relations to ovarian cancer.

OV Cancer does not usually spread to the breasts because it would normally settle and attack somewhere closer to home like in the abdomin /cavity. However, because I carry the faulty braca 1 gene I have a higher risk of breast cancer than I did OV and this is a scary thought in deed. I am now screaned yearly for breast cancer by the offer of anual mamograms. When I had my first one, dodgy looking cells were found, and I had a Biopsy, these turned out to be perfectly normal. The radiologist showed me the cells on the screen and they really did look like cancer but they weren`t.

My oncologist told me that having a new primary cancer is better than having a re-occurance of the previous one. Because a cure is always hopeful, which is not so much the case with a secondry cancer.

I had two primary cancers going on at the same time, the one in my ovaries that had spread to my bowel and omentrum was not the same cancer as the one growing in my uterus.

Of course this didn`t mean I needed extra surgary because it was all taken care of at the same time and with chemo. But it isn`t impossible to have two primary cancers going on together.

One may need one type of chemo and the other something different - so what do they do in cases like this? Well, they work something out.

I agree with you darling, because we may post our worry`s and concerns on here it doesn`t mean that we are truly focussed on this one thing 24/7 and it does not mean that we are being negative. Being worried is not being negative, its being realistic and its the most normal thing in the world, of course it MATTER`s of course it does.If you are anything like me you won`t bury your head in the sand with the attitude does it really matter, more to the point we do something about it, we ask questions and hope the answera help us to understand a bit easier.

Sometimes we can feel patronized almost by people who try to make us feel a whole lot better who while doing so fail in a way they would be mortified to learn.

I wish you a fantastic time in Weston love sent from Tina xxx

[ScardyCat40 in reply to TinaWright]

Tina,

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm at home now and I find as Monday approaches I'm thinking of this more and more. I just want to know

[TinaWright]

Yer, I don`t need to imagine, I know dolly, bless you dear!

The not knowing increases the anxiety.

My daughter has still not had her results from her MRI, but I tell her no news is good news, if there was a problem she would have heard by now. Peace of mind isn`t too much to expect though, is it?

Pleeeease let me know how you get on. I am feeling anxious for you now.

I will say a little prayer for you xx

[bofa in reply to TinaWright]

Hi TinaWright

My wife is also BRCA 1 and was diagnosed with OVCA serous 3c 5 years ago. 5 years later after debulking, 2 lines of chemo and PARP she is facing a bad result of mammography in the breast. It is tiny less than 1x1 and she is going in for a biopsy today. If I understood your post you had a similar experience and it was benign.

Did you consider to do a mastectomy? I spoke to my wife about this after the first chemo (reducing the risk as a BRCA 1 carrier) but she could not bear the idea. Docs said keeping watch (MRI or mammography + surgeon) every 6 month will be enough. I hope they were right...

Your story was a big relief for me.

bofa