---
title: Can breast cancer spread to the bowel and cause belly pain that gets worse before menstruation?
description: This is extremely rare, but one woman had constipation, vomiting, and belly pain that got worse before her period for 5 months, which turned out to be breast
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-sub-occlusive-episodes-as-initial-presentation-of-metastatic-breast-2025/
---

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- Can breast cancer spread to the bowel and cause belly pain that gets worse before menstruation?

Case report, 2025

# Can breast cancer spread to the bowel and cause belly pain that gets worse before menstruation?

This is extremely rare, but one woman had constipation, vomiting, and belly pain that got worse before her period for 5 months, which turned out to be breast cancer spread to her bowel.

 Early or limited evidence

Woman of unknown age

## What they did

Doctors described one woman who had constipation and belly pain that happened in a pattern linked to her menstruation over 5 months.

## What they found

The woman had breast cancer that spread to where the small and large intestine meet, causing her cyclical belly pain and constipation.

## What it means for you

This presentation is extremely rare, but doctors should think of serious illness if belly symptoms follow a regular menstrual pattern. The main limit is that this is one woman's story and we don't know how rare this truly is.

5

months of symptoms

## About the study

Original title Premenstrual sub-occlusive episodes as initial presentation of metastatic breast cancer: a case report of a previously undescribed entity Authors Hamadeh W, Kanaan H, Husseini HE et al. Journal Discover oncology Year 2025 Study design Case report What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-03595-9](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12672-025-03595-9)

## Topics

[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

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