title: Rare primary fallopian tube carcinoma; a gynaecologist's dilemma.
abstract: Primary fallopian tube carcinoma is rare and accounts for 0.14-1.8% of all malignancies of the female genital tract. It has been found to be associated with nulliparity and subfertility, as well as with pelvic inflammatory disease. High parity has been reported to be protective but not in our 3 cases. History of pregnancy and the use of oral contraceptives decrease the PFTC risk significantly in literature. PFTC has been described in high-risk breast-ovarian cancer families with germ-line BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 mutations. Symptoms are nonspecific and include abdominal pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding and watery discharge. However, diagnosis is rarely achieved pre-operative because of misleading imaging. In many cases, the diagnosis is made incidentally on histopathology after surgery for an un-related condition commonly being an ovarian carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Shama
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Rubina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: 4th year MBBS Student, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Madiha Munir
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zuberi
authors.affiliation: 4th year MBBS Student, Ziauddin University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Zehra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zaidi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005185:Fallopian Tube Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D018394:CA-125 Antigen
keywords: PFTC (Primary fallopian tube carcinoma), CA-125 levels, EOC (Epithelial ovarian cancer), BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 mutations.