What is Fallopian Tube Cancer?

The fallopian tube is part of the female reproductive system. When a woman has a menstrual cycle each month, once ovulation occurs and the egg leaves the ovary, it enters one of the fallopian tubes. While in the fallopian tubes, the egg may be fertilized by male sperm. It then travels into the uterus and implants to form a pregnancy. If the egg is not fertilized, a normal menstrual cycle will occur. Cancer of the fallopian tube typically forms in the cells that line the inside of the fallopian tube.

Fallopian tube cancer typically develops at the tip or outer end of the fallopian tube (the end closest to the ovary.) In fact, recent research suggests that most ovarian cancers actually start in the fallopian tube and then spread to the surface of the ovaries and beyond. Therefore, throughout medical literature, “ovarian cancer” is often used as an umbrella term that actually incorporates ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer. The clinical behavior and response to treatment are so similar that they are all treated the same way.

Recent literature has also shown that the most common type of fallopian tube and ovarian cancer (high grade serous carcinoma) comes from a pre-cancerous lesion in the fallopian tube called a STIC (serous tubal intraepithelial lesion).