Is there a way to know whether a lump is malignant or benign without a biopsy?

A physician might be able to tell by palpating if it should be biopsied or not, but a layman probably couldn’t make a reasonable assessment. So now I pull out the Fluther litany…Go to the doctor! Or tell whoever that they should…

Not for sure, no. I seasoned doctor could probably make an educated assessment, but I doubt you’d find one who would tell you yes without it being biopsy’d first.

@mazingerz88 It depends where it’s located. They can do it with a scan sometimes. I’ve had it done. Best advice is from Jill. Get to the doctor. Sooner rather than later.

Depends where the lump is. Multi-modal endscopic examination of colonic polyps by some one with the correct experience is about 98% acurate.

Generally speaking, no. Why are you stalling? You’re talking about cancer and time may be extremely important!

@Adirondackwannabe Yes, thanks. My 38 year old female friend has it in her buttock. She saw three doctors already and all three probed, poked and pressed. She then got a colonoscopy and got a polyp biopsied. It was benign. They found hemorrhoids but the lump according to the doctors is not part of that.

She had an ultra-sound or MRI and the doctors read the results and confirm there was a growth there but none of them could say whether its life threatening or not. One of them doesn’t think it’s anything serious. But all three recommend they should cut and do a fistulectomy. That is one surgery my friend would hate having since none of the doctors guarantee it would work and they might need to do it again after a few months depending.

I cringed when my friend told me they would cut from her anus and slice open the whole length of the lump? One doctor said he would plug it with something, the other said a string will be left there sticking out of her buttock for weeks? And one serious side effect if the surgeon screws up is cutting a muscle that might cause permanent fecal incontinence?

Oh my. Hence the question, isn’t there any other way this lump could be treated without cutting?

Btw, my friend was given 3 different sets of strong antibiotics already by her primary care doctor and didn’t work so she had to go to 3 butt surgeons.

@mazingerz88 I think anything within the body like that would require the biopsy. Mine was a lump on the testicle.

Honestly Cyst are liquid filled and feel different but; this is not really Scientific. A trained Surgeon would know. Mine was always right. In these circumstances you are sent for a Sonogram. Cyst are not Malignant. They run in my family and are annoying. Sometimes they need to be removed. They can be painful.
They have a new Technique to remove them which does not work well and is very painful. I had this done at Regional Radiology and the poorly trained Physician didn’t do it correctly. It became a complicated Cyst. Which my Surgeon had to Surgically remove. Cyst can often be Aspirated.
I would have a Sonogram done before a Biopsy if possible.

Is the lump high up between the butocks just above the anus?

@Lightlyseared I think it extends towards the middle of one of the butt cheeks. She said she could feel a thin muscle connecting the main lump body to her anus, a fistula according to the doctors.

This needs to be examined by a trained Surgeon.

Apparently it is different to know, check out this thread to learn more. I think you may have to get a biopsy.

You can tell in the past tense: “That was a malignant tumor; he should have had it checked and removed, poor guy. I wonder where they’re going to bury him?”

There is no Dr worth his/her weight in school loans that are going to tell you something is malignant or benign without a biopsy!

It is also not as cut and dry as malignant or benign. The type, staging, modality, treatment, therapy can only be determined by taking a biopsy and having the pathology results interpreted.

Cancer sucks, never take a chance….