what are the different types of ovarian cancer?

I have breast cancer and had a mastectomy last month.. my onc thinks that given my age and my family history I need to have the genetic testing.. unfortunately I have a "cyst" on my ovary and will be getting an ultrasound done Thursday to determine if it really is just a cyst. I have been complaing of vague symptoms for a long time now. strange pressure/pain in my lower left side, chronic UTI's for over a year now and abdominal swelling that got very bad after my surgery.. also in the last few months I have had swelling of my calves and low grade fevers since last november. I'm trying to remain optimistic, but I know there's a good chance this isn't just a cyst.

I have had abnormal paps for over a year too.. the colposcopy shows squamous cells but is inconclusive.. they can't rule out a high grade process and can't tell exactly what they are looking at.. they wanted me to have another procedure but that's when the breast cancer was discovered and it took priority.

what are the different types of cancer cells that effect the ovaries?

heavens i'm so sorry you are having to go through all this - the process of diagnoses seems to take forever and the whole process is deeply scary!!!

I cant help specifically on the ovarian cancer front but i'm sure someone will be along soon who can.

This was really to say hi and send you hugs to help you through this process, there are many sisters out here rooting for you, so read, learn and keep us up to date on how things are going for you.

I am sorry you are dealing with so much and hope it is just a normal cyst. I had a different type of cancer ( squamous cell vaginal), but if you check our resource section there is much info on the different type of ovarian cancer.

There are three main types. It is also my understanding there may be more. This is from an overview by American Cancer Society I'm using to try to get newspaper articles done.

Epithelial tumors start from the cells that cover the outer surface of the ovary. Germ cell tumors start from the cells that produce the effs. Stromal tumors start from the connective tissue cells that hold the ovary together and make female tumors. In epithelial tumors there are those of low malignant potential (LMP) which do not appear to be clearly cancerous. They are also known as borderline tumors. These tumors affect women at a younger age than other ovarian cancers. They grow slowly and are much less serious than most ovarian cancers. About 85% of ovarian cancers are epithelial cancers. Cancer cells of this type of tumor have certain features that can be seen under a microscope and that allow doctors to further classify them. There are several subtypes of germ cell tumors. More than half of stromal tumors are found in women over 50.

Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma is a cancer much like epithelial ovarian cancer but it occurs outside of the ovaries. It grows from cells that line the pelvis or abdomen. These cells look like the cells along the surface of the ovaries. Women who have had their ovaries removed can still get this type of cancer.

I hope that you do NOT have ovarian cancer--remember, cysts and tumors are likely to be benign.

My doctors office called yesterday.. the ultrasound shows an "echogenic nodule" on my left ovary. I also have a copy of the colposcopy/biopsy report that was done on April 4th of this year..

I am scared and my doctors (including my oncologist) don't seem to be in a hurry to find out what's going on. I'm going to type out part of this report (I'm sorry it's long) and maybe one or more of you can tell me how to approach my doctors with knowledge that this IS something we need to get moving on. BTW, the CT scan also showed a mass on my liver.

colposcopy/biopsy report:
This difficult case was reviewed in staff conference. Part A contains squamous epithelium with some features suggestive of squamous mataplasia (including prominent eosinophilic nucleoli and spongiosis) but other features suggesting dysplagia (including irregular nuclear membranesan occasional mitosis; the suboptimal orientation of the tissue fragment prevents determination of how basil the mitosis are). insitu hybridisation for HPV (types 6/11 16/18 and 31/33/51) are negative; a Ki67 immunostain was noncontributory (negative in the basal layer as was the remainder of the specimen) despite the negative HPV immunostain, the features are suspicios for dysplasia. Unfortunately cannot definitively determine whether this represents dysplagia or marked squamous metaplasia and would descriptively designate it as atypical....

that was the co-report.. both reports also said that the possibility of a high grade process cannot be ruled out.