If ovarian cancer spreads
Cancer cells can spread from the ovary to other parts of the body. This spread is called metastasis.
Understanding how a type of cancer usually grows and spreads helps your healthcare team plan your treatment and future care. If ovarian cancer spreads, it can spread to the following:
- fallopian tube
- other ovary
- uterus
- cervix
- vagina
- omentum (a fold in the peritoneum that covers and supports organs and blood vessels in the abdomen)
- parietal peritoneum (the membrane that lines the walls of the abdomen and pelvis) or visceral peritoneum (the membrane that covers and supports most of the organs in the abdomen)
- diaphragm (the thin muscle below the lungs and heart that separates the chest cavity from the abdomen)
- lymph nodes in the pelvis and
retroperitoneum - bladder
- large intestine
- rectum
- small intestine
- liver
- lungs