Worried

annePNW · New User Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

Hi - I'm hoping that maybe you all can help me. A little background: My mom died of colon cancer when she was 53 years old. Her brother is a colon cancer survivor. Her grandmother died from colon cancer.

When my mom got cancer, her doctor told me to get routine colonoscopies. I had my first colonoscopy at 24 and had several polyps, all benign. I had colonoscopies every couple of years until at 30 or so I had some dysplastic polyps. After that I had colonoscopies yearly until I was 34 and had a screening with no polyps at all. At that point, my doctor said I could wait 5 years before coming back. I waited 6-1/2 years... and finally had a colonoscopy last week. During that screening, they found a very large polyp near the cecum. The doctor was unable to remove it and so took a biopsy. He called me a couple of days later and said that the polyp came back benign, but that he isn't feeling comfortable with the pathology report. He wants to do another colonoscopy in a few weeks to try to remove the whole polyp or at least get several biopsies to be sure he gets a good representative sample. He also says that if the polyp can't be removed through the colonoscopy, that I would need to have surgery to remove it. He was apparently surprised to get a report saying the polyp was benign.

I'm nervous. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to get screened again. And I'm wondering if it is really possible for a doctor to look at a polyp and think it is cancer before seeing biopsy results? I'm scared about possibly having to have surgery and wonder if it is really necessary if the next biopsies are benign. I'm also wondering if it is cancer, wouldn't it still be in the early stages because 6-1/2 years ago I had NO polyps?

Can you tell I'm just a bit stressed out? I've lost both of my parents to cancer... and I have a 3-year-old daughter and a wonderful husband and I just don't want this to be cancer! This waiting for answers is so hard...

Thanks for any information you can share...

brainman · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:35 am Post subject: Re: Worried

Anne, I am so very sorry about your health concerns. I can certainly understand why you are worried and waiting IS very hard. Your family has really had to face this demonic colon cancer issue! I cannot answer all of your questions but I will answer those that I can.

A false negative biopsy is relatively common with colon cancer, especially if only a small portion is removed. Are you saying that the next biopsy will need to be done by surgery even before finding out if it is malignant or benign? That does seem extreme just to remove a benign polyp. It seems like a colonoscopy could give the doctors ample samples for the pathologist to assess. Maybe the polyp need to come out anyhow regardless of whether it is malignant or benign? Just some confusion in the details of your situation.

Can doctors just look at a polyp and diagnose it? No. However, if they have seen enough cancerous polyps, they can make a pretty darn good educated guess. However, it is still a guess and doctors have been known to be wrong.

Six and a half years is a very long time where polyps are concerned. I do not know what to say one way or the other about the probability of it being malignant. You did the best that you could do and followed your doctor's orders. I do not think that waiting 6-1/2 years rather than 5 years would make that great of a difference. That really does not matter anymore. As they say: It is what it is. I hope and pray that it IS benign.

You are in my thoughts and prayers. Keep use informed.

P.S. I re-read your post and understand that surgery will only be done IF the colonoscopy cannot remove the whole polyp. Sorry, it is too late to be reading or replying Embarassed

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Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendroglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=2528
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annePNW · New User Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

Hi Jim,
Thanks for your reply. I did not realize that false negatives were common with colon cancer... and yes, it was a very small piece that they removed for biopsy, which is why my doctor said he is not comfortable with the pathology report. I guess all I can do is hang on for a few weeks and try not to stress over it too much....
Take care,
Anne

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