If you’ve been diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer, you deserve experienced care and access to the most advanced treatments available. Penn Medicine is at the forefront of gynecologic cancer research. We treat a high volume of people with fallopian tube cancer, offering leading-edge treatments, including immunotherapy. As an academic medical center, we have clinical trials for fallopian tube cancer, as well as on-site lab capabilities to analyze your cancer and guide precision care at every phase of your treatment.
What is fallopian tube cancer?
Fallopian tube cancer forms in the tissue that covers the fallopian tubes, a pair of long, thin tubes on either side of the uterus (womb). Eggs formed in the ovaries pass through the fallopian tubes to the uterus during ovulation.
Cancers that form in the fallopian tubes can spread to the ovary. This is how some ovarian cancers form. Fallopian tube cancer is very rare, making up fewer than 2 percent of gynecologic cancers.
Types of fallopian tube cancer
Fallopian tube cancers are most often epithelial or surface carcinomas, which means that they form on the tissue that lines or covers the fallopian tubes.
There are several different types of fallopian tube cancers, including:
- Papillary serous adenocarcinomas: More than 95 percent of fallopian tube cancers are papillary serous adenocarcinomas. This type of cancer grows from the cells lining the fallopian tubes. When the cells begin to divide abnormally and invade other organs or spread to other parts of the body, tumors may form.
- Primary fallopian tube cancer: Primary fallopian tube cancer is extremely rare, representing about 1 percent of all gynecologic cancers.
- Sarcomas (leiomyosarcomas): Occasionally, tumors called sarcomas (leiomyosarcomas) may form from smooth muscle in the fallopian tubes. Tumors can also form on other cells that line the fallopian tubes and are called transitional cell carcinomas.
Fallopian tube cancer signs and symptoms
Fallopian tube cancer does not always cause early signs or symptoms. Also, other conditions may cause the same or similar symptoms as fallopian tube cancer.
If you suspect that you have any of the following signs of fallopian tube cancer, contact your doctor:
- Pelvic pain, pressure, or swelling
- Sudden or frequent urge to urinate
- Loss of appetite or quickly feeling full when you eat
- A lump in the pelvic area
- Gas, bloating, constipation, or abdominal pain
Who is at high risk of fallopian tube cancer?
People with a personal or family history of ovarian, breast, or peritoneal cancer may be at a higher risk of developing fallopian tube cancer. Other fallopian tube cancer risk factors include inherited gene mutations and endometriosis.
Why choose Penn
While fallopian tube cancer is rare, Penn Medicine sees a high volume of people in the region who need fallopian tube cancer care. Fallopian tube cancer is similar to ovarian cancer, and often treated in the same way, so that people with this type of cancer benefit from our nationally recognized ovarian cancer care.
Penn researchers discovered that ovarian cancers can originate in the fallopian tubes. Our deeply researched fallopian tube cancer care involves genetic testing for each tumor, to determine personalized, precision care for each patient.
We have more full-time, board-certified gynecologic oncologists than any other hospital in the Philadelphia region. Our entire team, including medical oncologists, pathologists, surgeons and radiation specialists, meets weekly to discuss joint treatment plans that are unique to each patient. Because cancer and its treatment can affect the whole body, we partner closely with specialists throughout Penn Medicine. This collaborative model lets us take on a greater complexity of care.
Learn more about fallopian tube cancer diagnosis at Penn Medicine
We encourage patients to enroll in one of our innovative clinical trials, such as immunotherapy that trains the body to fight cancer from within. Clinical trials can be used as a single treatment or combined with traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy. Some of these treatments, such as CAR-T immunotherapy, are only available at Penn.
Frequently asked questions about fallopian tube cancer
There is no known relationship between cysts that form in the reproductive organs and cancer, but it is important to have cysts monitored regularly by your doctor.
Both cancers are most often epithelial carcinomas, which means that they form on the surface tissue of organs. However, there is another connection: Penn Medicine researchers discovered that ovarian cancer can start in the fallopian tubes.
Fallopian tube cancer can spread to other parts of your pelvis or elsewhere in your body. If suspicious cells are found in your fallopian tube, we will check for the spread of cancer in the tissues and organs surrounding the area. We may also perform a biopsy of your lymph nodes, abdominal tissues and the tissues near your stomach to see if and how far cancer has spread.
Because fallopian tube cancer is most often caught at later stages, it can spread to other parts of the pelvis, such as the peritoneum (the tissue that covers the organs in the abdomen). When fallopian tube cancer is diagnosed, doctors will also check to see if, and how much, it has spread.
You can enter a clinical trial upon diagnosis or at any time in the course of the disease. In fact, we encourage it. If you are interested in enrolling in a clinical trial, please talk with your doctor.
Most people who are enrolled in clinical trials will be treated in Philadelphia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, but some people may be treated in our other facilities throughout the Philadelphia region.
If you don’t qualify or are not interested in clinical trials, you can get standard treatment from experienced doctors, both at Penn Medicine’s downtown Philadelphia hospitals and within the Penn Medicine health care system throughout the region.
If you are diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer, our fertility preservation program will evaluate your options for having a family in the future. This might include egg preservation, in-vitro fertilization and other advanced reproductive techniques.
Rated “exceptional” by The National Cancer Institute
Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center is a world leader in cancer research, patient care, and education. Our status as a national leader in cancer care is reflected in our continuous designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1973, one of 7 such centers in the United States. The ACC is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, one of a select few cancer centers in the U.S., that are working to promote equitable access to high-quality, advanced cancer care.
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