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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Are The Chances Of Malignancy In A Mass On Lung?

I am 60, had an x-ray done and it showed a mass on my lung. went for a ct scan it also showed a mass, but they said it was a tumor on my right rib cage, did a biopsy they said it was bening, going for surgery to remove it, it grew some what the dr. says he might be able to do it with a camera, but if he sees that is cancerous he will have to open remove it and send for a biopsy. Could this be cancerous even after the needle biopsy showed it was bening.
posted on Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Twitter Fri, 11 Aug 2017 Answered on
Twitter Fri, 11 Aug 2017 Last reviewed on
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
Thanks for your question on Healthcare Magic.
I can understand your concern.
Yes, this can still be malignant mass.
What you had was not biopsy, it was FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology).
In FNAC, needle is inserted into the mass and material is taken. So material is not representing whole mass, it represents only small part of mass. So FNAC can be false negative if tumour cells are not aspirated.
And hence negative FNAC report does not rule out mass.
Excision biopsy is complete excision of mass and send whole mass to histopathological examination. So this will be 100% confirmatory.
Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wish you good health. Thanks.
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What Are The Chances Of Malignancy In A Mass On Lung?

Thanks for your question on Healthcare Magic. I can understand your concern. Yes, this can still be malignant mass. What you had was not biopsy, it was FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology). In FNAC, needle is inserted into the mass and material is taken. So material is not representing whole mass, it represents only small part of mass. So FNAC can be false negative if tumour cells are not aspirated. And hence negative FNAC report does not rule out mass. Excision biopsy is complete excision of mass and send whole mass to histopathological examination. So this will be 100% confirmatory. Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further. Wish you good health. Thanks.