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Can Ovarian Cancer Cause Low Hemoglobin Levels?
Question: My sister has just been in the hospital for very low hemoglobin. She had to have two units of blood to get her up to a 7. She then went to gynecologist and was told she has small fibroid and a polyp / cyst on her right ovary. Her ca-125 came back elevated so now is being sent to a ongologist gynecologist. Does this mean she has ovarian cancer? I never seen low hemoglobin as a symptom of ovarian cancer. What other kind of cancer could this be?
Brief Answer:
Hello dear. She requires further evaluation
Detailed Answer:
Hello dear. I have gone through the details. So a suspected lesion of ovaries require evaluation by a CT scan
It may or may not be cancer, and further course of action is decided by CT report. Ca-125 only helps in diagnosis and an elevated value can be seen in other benign conditions too.
Now the cause of a low hemoglobin is most likely a loss of blood in bleeding or nutrional deficiency of iron.
Loss of blood is seen in uterus cancer or gut cancer and CT scan will help in exact diagnosis. She will also require stool test for occult blood loss and a colonoscopy.
Thanks and regards
Feel free to ask further
Hello dear. She requires further evaluation
Detailed Answer:
Hello dear. I have gone through the details. So a suspected lesion of ovaries require evaluation by a CT scan
It may or may not be cancer, and further course of action is decided by CT report. Ca-125 only helps in diagnosis and an elevated value can be seen in other benign conditions too.
Now the cause of a low hemoglobin is most likely a loss of blood in bleeding or nutrional deficiency of iron.
Loss of blood is seen in uterus cancer or gut cancer and CT scan will help in exact diagnosis. She will also require stool test for occult blood loss and a colonoscopy.
Thanks and regards
Feel free to ask further
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Colonoscopy was good, no blood in her stool. The way she found out about her low hemoglobin was because she had gone that morning to Rheumatoligist. She had been experiencing joint pain and some weird things like sores inside her mouth... not cancer sores and angular chelitis that she could not get rid of. He ran test for chrones etc which all came back normal. However the hemoglobin came back at 4 so he sent her to ER. There they could not find any internal bleeding but did see thick endometrial lining, small fibroid and either a cyst or polyp on her right ovary. Her gynecologist told her to take 90 mg of an iron supplement 1x daily. Her rheumatologist told her to take it 2-3x daily. What are your thoughts regarding that? No one told her when to retest to find out what her hemoglobin levels
Brief Answer:
She requires iron studies
Detailed Answer:
Hello dear. So again as i said, anemia seems unrelated to cancer. She requires iron studies and serum ferritin test, to look for the exact type of anemia. If it turns out to be iron deficiency, she will require atleast 6 months of oral iron supplements.
Moreover, evaluation for ovrian cyst can be continued.
Thanks and regards
She requires iron studies
Detailed Answer:
Hello dear. So again as i said, anemia seems unrelated to cancer. She requires iron studies and serum ferritin test, to look for the exact type of anemia. If it turns out to be iron deficiency, she will require atleast 6 months of oral iron supplements.
Moreover, evaluation for ovrian cyst can be continued.
Thanks and regards
Note: Do you have more questions on diagnosis or treatment of blood disorders? Ask An Expert/ Specialist Now
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
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