I had an FNA biopsy for an enlarged lymph node on the left side of my neck - after a week of waiting, I finally got the results that the sample appears normal and no evidence of T-cell or B-cell lymphoma - nor do they know what it is at this point other than an enlarged node - my doctor is recommending that I have the whole node removed and so is the doctor who did the biopsy. I'm going to see an ENT tomorrow with my CT scan slides and biopsy results for another opinion. I dont' want to have surgery on my neck if it's not necessary - why would they recommend that I have the whole node removed if the FNA came back normal? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated? Is there a benefit to me having this surgery? Thanks.
Debbie

I had an FNA biopsy for an enlarged lymph node on the left side of my neck - after a week of waiting, I finally got the results that the sample appears normal and no evidence of T-cell or B-cell lymphoma - nor do they know what it is at this point other than an enlarged node - my doctor is recommending that I have the whole node removed and so is the doctor who did the biopsy. I'm going to see an ENT tomorrow with my CT scan slides and biopsy results for another opinion. I dont' want to have surgery on my neck if it's not necessary - why would they recommend that I have the whole node removed if the FNA came back normal? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated? Is there a benefit to me having this surgery? Thanks.
Debbie
Fine needle biopsy is good for predicting presence of lymphoma/cancer. It is not good for ruling it out. This means that if a FNA shows cancer, then the next step is treatment. If the FNA shows negative and symptoms say otherwise, then the entire node needs to be removed and examined in order to provide a large enough sample. FNA is good to keep from weakening an already at risk patient. It is not good at finding elusive cancers that may still exist if the symptoms are there.

I think the node in my neck is 4.6 x 2.1 cm which sounds big but I don't know - the doctor who did the biospy said he takes alittle bit of every part but is it possible that they could have missed a "bad" part? I also have 1.9cm nodule on my left thyroid that I think needs to be looked into as well so maybe the ENT I'm seeing will have some answers as to which direction I should take.

I had an FNA biopsy for an enlarged lymph node on the left side of my neck - after a week of waiting, I finally got the results that the sample appears normal and no evidence of T-cell or B-cell lymphoma - nor do they know what it is at this point other than an enlarged node - my doctor is recommending that I have the whole node removed and so is the doctor who did the biopsy. I'm going to see an ENT tomorrow with my CT scan slides and biopsy results for another opinion. I dont' want to have surgery on my neck if it's not necessary - why would they recommend that I have the whole node removed if the FNA came back normal? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated? Is there a benefit to me having this surgery? Thanks.
Debbie

In most cases FNA is sufficient to rule out cancer or lymphoma in particular, even if it's not 100% accurate. In your case perhaps the results weren't conclusive - this is not unusual at all. If your node is palpable you may not need to undergo general anesthesia for this surgery, but of course you will have to consult your doctors about it. This is a very minor surgery, especially if the node is not deep under the skin (which I assume it is not, since you already underwent FNA).

The benefit is, you will know for certain your results are indeed normal.

Hope this helps.