Lump on ovary - How worried should I be?

[EllaBella41]

Hi I'm early 30s and went for an ultrasound today because I'm pretty much always bloated. The sonographer told me I have a 3cm "lump" on my right ovary and that I will be referred for an MRI or CT. They also said I should call the doctors in a week about this and 'not to wait' for them to contact me.

I was a bit surprised with the whole thing and I didn't really say anything but now I'm wondering whether it could be cancer? They did refer to it as a dermoid at one point but I'm not sure if it is that.

I'd love to know if anyone else has had a similar scenario, if this sounds bad or not, and if there is a difference in cyst/ dermoid/ lump?

Tia x

Anyone? 😔

My friend (32 female) had a lump in her ovary recently that was cancer, however it was removed in an op, hadnt spread anywhere . They just had to move one of the ovary's . So not ideal but it wasn't as bad as it could have been considering it was cancer. No chemo or anything needed. Her periods were irregular which is why they found it . Though I'm sure it's very likely to just be a cyst as they are very very common too! I also know someone who had an ovarian cyst removed

I meant remove one of her ovaries x

I had an impressive 11 cm dermoid cyst, that they originally thought was a chocolate (blood) cyst, both of which are benign / almost always benign.

At your age I think it’s very much more likely to be benign, so the tech is just expressing the need to make sure you follow up and check. Also large ish benign cysts tend to need to be removed because they can cause trouble.

You need to keep an eye on it because they can get in the way and create a life threatening emergency eg chocolate cysts anyway can twist. Mine never hurt but I was told to have it removed. At 4 cm yours might be too small for that but they do grow and sometimes quite quickly.

Personally I would start making a fuss and saying it hurts and get it removed. Also dermoid cysts can (rarely) be malignant do that’s another reason.

About a million years ago when i was 21 I had a huge grapefruit sized lump on one of my ovaries. It turned out to be a an ovarian teratoma, despite the scary name, a totally benign growth. I had it , and the ovary it was firmly embedded in, surgically removed and not a moments bother since ( went on to have 4 kids on the remaining ovary’s efforts). I would suspect due to your age it is likely to be something similar ( there are different types of these benign variants ).

I've had a lump for years and finally had an ultrasound and then an MRI. I have a fibroid on my ovary which is pretty big (13.5cm by 13cm). It's so big it's actually moved my cervix to the right. To be honest I'm amazed that something so big is hidden. Turns out the lump I'm feeling is my cervix!
Anyway, it's not cancerous but I am having it removed.

I'm going through this exact thing right now. I had an ultrasound because I've had irregular bleeding for years, and recently started having bladder issues too. They told me they found a "mass" on an ovary and I've had an urgent referral to be seen within 2 weeks. I'm absolutely terrified as lots of scary words have been used like urgent and oncology. Hoping it's benign, and yours too x

I have recently had 2 lumps / tumors removed from my ovaries.
One was grapefruit size the other tennis ball size

They were discovered when one had blocked my bowel, and then a couple of weeks later they caused agonising ovarian torsion. I was prepped to have emergancy surgary but they my ovary untwisted itself so the operation became urgent rather than emergancy and I was called back 20 days later for surgey to cut them out.
By which time they had moved again and were causing me bladder issues

It was terrifying at first. I had other complications too and there was a MDT (multidisaplinary team meeting) which included oncology and Mcmillan nurse present to tell me what they had found.

Thankfully mine were benign, successfully removed (I also lost 1 ovary and 1 fallopian tube). My operation was similar to a cesarian as they were cut out whole. They thought that I may have lost both ovarys but they managed to save one. It was clear from early on that I would definitely loose 1 ovary.
6 weeks later I was allowed back to work. 8 weeks later i felt close to normal.

It was terrifiying at the time, but the drs and hospital were amazing (I had 5 admissions / 12 nights in hospital over 2 months) and its sorted now.

Try not to worry

I'm glad it worked out as best as possible for your friend. I've just panicked today as was quite honestly shocked and I dont know what I'm dealing with. Hoping it is just a cyst.

Thank you for your advice.will push to see if air can have it removed. I just hope I dont lose my ovary though the grand scheme of things I know that isn't the most important.

Hi just to update you OP, I had my consultation with the gynecologist today and mine is a 10cm dermoid cyst! The size of a grapefruit. Apparently dermoid is 99% of the time not cancerous, especially in women under 50. My doctor was not concerned at all about mine being malignant, she said I have nothing to worry about.

Because mine is very large and causing me symptoms I will have to have it removed. She said if they are over 5cm they always remove them, so unsure about yours. But you probably don't have anything to worry about, cancer wise!

Oh and the doctor said I may well lose my ovary due to the size of my cyst (it is completely enveloping the ovary) but if they can, they usually try to save the ovary x

To those who are yet to have the operation. Please ask about fibroid embollisation, which is hopefully what I'm having done.
I've had an MRI and during that they injected dye so that they could see which arteries are feeding the fibroids. The specialist is then going to put a catheter in the main artery and release what are essentially plastic bits. These will travel to the end of the artery and block it so that essentially the fibroid will die.
This procedure has been done since the 90s and Dr Walker has done it loads of times. Because it's not really invasive you're not at high risk of infection. I won't lose my ovary either.

This is the link:

www.fibroids.co.uk/

I'm having my consultation next month.

Thank you so much for your update and so pleased to hear that is is very likely not cancerous. I hope you can get your operation done as quickly and smoothly as possible!
I haven't heard anything since my ultrasound last week so I will have to chase tomorrow. It took me 6 months to get my ultrasound appointment so goodness knows how long a CT or MRI will take! 😬

Thank you! I waited months for my ultrasound too but once they found the cyst things have moved quickly. The gynecologist I saw yesterday has referred me for a CT scan and said it would likely be within 2-3 weeks. Not sure how long surgery will be after that.

Could you call your GP and ask for an update? I had to call mine to find out they'd even found anything on the ultrasound. The sonographer was saying nothing, and the GP didn't bother to let me know I'd been referred on a cancer pathway until I rang up and asked 🙄

I tried to call today but the receptionist said I'd have to call back tomorrow to have any doctor share the results with me. I may just wait to speak with my usual doctor next week as she isn't in this week. She is very thorough and referred me in the first place so I feel like it may be best for her to manage.