Waiting for Diagnosis

msbc1

Hello,

I had a neck CT for a follow up to parathyroid surgery I had in the summer, and the report came back showing "3 x 2 cm pathologically enlarged left supraclavicular lymph node. Pathologically enlarged bilateral level 1B lymph nodes, up to 15 mm in long axis diameter. Several greater in number than size lymph nodes in the remaining cervical chains are nonspecific." I am pretty sure this isn't thyroid related as I had a biopsy a few months ago and it was all benign.

My primary care doctor told me I need a biopsy and I have since sent the reports and scans over to an oncologist and it is pending review. I was wondering if anyone has any experience in what these results mean...specifically does this mean it's definitely some type of cancer? Any information/opinions you can provide would very much be appreciated (I hate waiting and my anxiety level is very high these days). Thank you in advance.

po18guy

Sorry to hear of your concern. Scanning helps determine staging of cancer, and can locate tumors or reveal hyper-metabolic activity, but it cannot diagnose cancer by itself. It will require a pathological examination of an entire node for the best result. Removing an entire node is the gold standard in diagnostics, as the pathologist will need to examine the internal structure of the lymph node. A needle aspiration biopsy "can" be done, but the results are not completely reliable.

You have had enlarged lymph nodes each and every tie you have had a cold, flu or any other infection. Enlarged nodes normally indicate that your immune system is fighting infection. Of course, enlarged nodes can also be malignant, but that is the vast majority of cases. The only way to eliminate cancer is to have a biopsy and go from there.

Just bear in mind that enlarged nodes have occurred in every human that has ever walked this earth - by design.