enlarged lymph node, lft side my neck. Dr took ct scan, its 1.4 cm says can't needle biopsy, I read you can.?

Question

What I wanted to know is why you can't do a needle biopsy instead of jumping right to surgery(Which he doesn't think is necessary) Blood work cam back fine but I have also read lymphoma doesn't always show up in blood work

Answer 1

He's the Dr. He/she? May want to make sure, with a biopsy, they have more tissue to Analise. I know my Dr. is always making sure of things with his patients. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

If you have Lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease, a needle biopsy will not do it, they have to pull the lymph node out and put it under a microscope to identify which cancer it is, if it is cancer....which unfortunately it is not looking good for you right now. The biopsy isn't that bad, and you probably will be released from the hospital the same day. I have had Hodgkin's disease and my blood work came back perfect, but the biopsy and a battery of other test said differently. There is a book you can get at your library or book store called Choices - tells you all about the different types of cancers and their symptoms, and treatments, etc.... I hope this helps!

Answer 3

From HealthAtoZ: Normally lymph nodes are no larger than 0.5 in (1.3 cm) in diameter and are difficult to feel. However, when lymph nodes trap bacteria or cancer cells, they can increase in size to greater than 2.5 in (6 cm). Most often, hot and painful swollen nodes are caused by trapped bacteria. Swollen lymph nodes caused by cancer are usually painless.

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, often just called needle biopsy, is done when the lymph node of interest is near the surface of the body.

From my personal experience: I had an enlarged lymph node on the side of my neck and they tried twice to do a needle biopsy and both times it came back inconclusive. My lymph node was about 3 cm and was swollen for months and I suffered from fatigue. I did have cancer though, thyroid cancer that spread to 1 lymph node.

I had a family history of thyroid cancer, so after ct scan, mri's with contrast, radioactive iodine uptake, and other tests I do not recall, there was a suspicion that I may have thyroid cancer. The Doctor decided the best course of action was to remove the lymph node and do a biopsy to confirm. They found the thyroid cancer in the lymph node and then also removed my thyroid.

I have also had scares with swollen lymph nodes after the surgery, that turned out to be nothing.

Answer 4

The following was copied from an Internet news group.

Why would I rely on your backward methods for diagnosing cancer, that is, with invasive procedures such as biopsies and radiation from CT scans?? Are you aware that when a person has cancer they have elevated levels of hCGH in their urine? This can sometime be detected with a pregnancy test if the hCGH levels are high enough.

Because I had a dozen visible lesions or more and testicular pain, I screened myself with a simple pregnancy test. In my case the levels were high enough to register positive. Since I'm a man, and I had lesions and pain, it was quite obvious that I had cancer.

So once again, the macabre ways you are familiar with for diagnosing and treating cancer patients are unnecessary.

Let me add a caveat, pregnancy tests don't always show positive when a person has cancer because the hCGH levels aren't always high enough. But if they are high enough...bingo! It's a great way to to uncover cancer cheaply and painlessly.

There is a more sophisticated pregnancy test that is about 98% accurate and picks up malignancies six months to two years prior to other methods of screening. The downside to that test right now is that you have to send away for the results and there is a six week turn around on the results.

One more thing. The hCGH conection is yet another piece of evidence that cancer cells are trophoblast cells that have been turned on. It's the unitarian theory of cancer which was first discovered by a Dr. Beard about 100 years ago.

Trophoblast cells release hCGH as a byproduct of its activity. In pregnancy it plays a role in producing life by invasively eating a niche in the uterine wall. In cancer, the same invasiveness causes destruction. But the trophoblast cells can be turned off easily as my own case helps to demonstrate.

In conclusion, in this thread we're discussing the merits of a variety of deadly chemo agents in a case that is so far advanced that the only outcome from the chemo is going to be negative. It's a case of 'pretending' to be doing something. The doctors want to help. Unfortunately their tools aren't suited to the task. But psychologically they must believe, especially when it can be difficult to tell the patient you have nothing to offer them.

Meanwhile, the only methods that work are the ones that turn off the trophoblast cells while supporting the healthy cells....which happen to be the vast majority of the cells. Chemo fails in the latter. And instead of turning off the trophoblast cells, they kill them.

It's a recipe for disaster.

Answer 5

Biopsy may not be an option because of the location of the node. There may some some very immportant structures like arteries surrounding it. The CT will only show the size of the node. CT cannot tell you what's going on with it. You should ask about a P.E.T. scan. This test will be able to show if it is cancerous or not.

Answer 6

Well first of all there's different size criteria for lymph nodes in the neck & body, size criteria depends where your enlarged lymph node is? For e.g 1.5cm is the normal size for the submandibular level. Size is not a indicator of malignancy because you can have enlarged lymph due to tooth mouth infections,cold/flu etc, they also look at the shape, & fatty hila, and you can't biopsy a lymph node that's not big, so I can't say you have enlarged lymph nodes or not because you didn't say what area of the neck it was

Answer 7

That is exactly how I started out. We never knew I had Lymphoma until that node was biopsied. Stay on top of your doctors, or get a second opinion if you have to. It may be exactly what your doc is telling you, but make sure!
Here some more info if you suspect Lymphoma:
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls
Best wishes

Answer 8

Making dietary changes is your first line of defense in treating hypothyroidism. Learn here https://tr.im/Gd6du

Many people with hypothyroidism experience crippling fatigue and brain fog, which prompts reaching for non-nutritional forms of energy like sugar and caffeine. I’ve dubbed these rascals the terrible twosome, as they can burn out your thyroid (and destabilize blood sugar).

1. Just say no to the dietary bungee cord. Greatly reduce or eliminate caffeine and sugar, including refined carbohydrates like flour, which the body treats like sugar. Make grain-based carbohydrates lesser of a focus, eating non-starchy vegetables to your heart’s content.

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Answer 9

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Answer 10

they can do a pet scan to check for cancer cells that what they did to my husband also the surgen might do the biopsy if he is not the surgen