Is it possible that a mass in the pancreas is not cancer?

Arnie1 · New User Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

Is it possible that a mass in the pancreas that causes jaundice and back pain could be anything but cancer? If not, why do we have to waste so much time (over 7 weeks and counting) to get a biopsy that proves cancer, before any therapy can be started? The first two biopsies were negative, even though the doctors are convinced that it is cancer. Now we have been referred to a surgeon to do an operation to get a biopsy and he doesn't know if he can do it? The first opportunity he has to meet with us is in a week! I see no sense in meeting with him to discuss whether or not he can do something. Can't he just look at the xrays & catscans and discuss it with the referring doctor - today? Would every doctor take 1-2 weeks if it was their own mother? Thanks to this forum for providing a place for me to vent.

brainman

Hi Arnie,
The simple answer is yes, the mass could be other things. It could be a benign tumor. It could also be a cyst although I think the doctors could tell the difference between a mass and a cyst. It could also be a metastatic growth from some other organ. Doctors simply can not know for sure what it is without a biopsy and pathology report.

The waiting can be the hardest part of all of this. Sometimes it seems like an eternity between initial tests and final diagnosis. When I had the recurrence of my brain cancer, it took 5 month between the MRI that should something was growing and the final surgery to remove it. And that was with me calling weekly for information. It took 4 months for my medical team to decide what needed to be done and run all their tests.

I will keep you and your mother in law in my thoughts and prayers.
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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 Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

freeio · Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:52 pm Post subject: The reason

On the one hand, you may be right that it is almost certainly pancreatic cancer. However, there is the possibility that it is something else, and the treatment would not be the same. To not do the diagnostic tests required and to treat the patient for pancreatic cancer might be considered malpractice, and as such, any medical professional is going to come down on the side of caution.

Besides that, the common first treatment for pancreatic cancer is very major surgery - your basic eight hour operation. The cost is in the $150,000 range (at least that is what my Whipple procedure surgery cost three years ago) and so this is not done lightly.

But the most frustrating part of this is almost always the timing of it all, something I have come to refer to as "medical standard time." It is much like the old military "hurry up and wait" philosophy, except with life in the balance. While I would like to give some rosy picture of how this may be overcome, I cannot. There are lots of needy patients, and only so many doctors willing to do the job, and so we wait for their time to do it. This is painful, I know.

On the other hand, even notwithstanding the medical standard time issue, I am still alive with pancreatic adenocarcinoma three years after diagnosis. Excellent treatment is available, but you may need to look in the right place. If you have not already done so, you might want to look into using one of the major cancer centers. They have the staff and facilities to do quickly what the smaller facilities do with much greater difficulty.

Marty
_________________
-------------------------------------------------
whipple procedure, Oct. 21, 2004
28 days of radiation
56 days of Chemo using Xeloda
diagnosed as progressive recurrent pancreatic adenocarcinoma (Stage IV) Jun. 20, 2006
was treated with gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, and tarceva, which all failed.
Cancer blog: http://diehlmartin.com/cancer.html

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