Ovarian Cancer Metastasis to the Cervical Spinal Canal
This ovarian cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Subtype
- Adenocarcinoma
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- brain|cervical intradural extramedullary space
- Treatment
- surgery, chemotherapy and radiation
- Outcome
- In Memory
Treatment course, step by step
- She underwent ovarian surgery and chemotherapy.
- Later metastases were treated with brain surgery, removal of a spinal-canal tumor, and Gamma Knife radiation for recurrent brain disease.
What happened, in summary
A 76-year-old woman sought care after 6 months of severe neck pain. For 4 months, the pain had been intense enough to wake her from sleep despite opioid medication. Three years earlier, she had undergone removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes followed by chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. One year after that treatment, a brain metastasis had been surgically removed.
MRI now showed an enclosed mass inside the spinal canal at C4-C5, outside the spinal cord itself. She did not have limb weakness, but examination triggered pain radiating into her left shoulder and arm. Surgeons performed a C4-C5 hemilaminectomy and removed the tumor. Pathology showed adenocarcinoma with papillary features, confirming that the lesion was metastatic ovarian cancer.
After surgery, her previously intolerable neck and shoulder pain fully resolved, and she could manage daily activities without difficulty. Two months later, however, a recurrent brain metastasis required Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Her illness continued to advance, and she died from cachexia 4 months after the spinal operation.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by PMC / PubMed Central. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
Collections this story belongs to
- Metastatic Ovarian Cancer 11 stories
- Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer 126 stories
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer