I am mindy and my boyfriend is rob. He is 18 and for over a year he has had two masses behind his left ear. They are smaller than golfballs but very noticeable. He has no other symptoms and has not been sick. He had a biopsy (removed) On one a year ago and it came back. The doc said it is not cancerous but he now say after further reviewing that it, as the letter stated, "cannot totally exclude Hodgkins or Lymphoma. Does anyone have any suggestions or has this happen to you?? Please help we are scared!

Both of those conditions are cancer. So he needs to see an oncologist for further treatment or a better diagnosis.

As the previous poster said, both Hodgkins and Lymphoma are cancers, more specifically they are blood or hematologic cancers, so you do need to see a Hematologist/Oncologist for confirmation of the diagnosis.

The reason why your boyfriend's doctor may not know the exact diagnosis is because the disease may still be in its early stages, when the symptoms tend to be very similar. My child had an acute leukemia - the attending paediatrician who conducted the first exam told us right away that he wasn't certain whether it was leukemia or lymphoma. An accurate diagnosis and staging [determining how far the disease had progressed] took a lot of tests over a one week period at the cancer hospital. The most common tests are: CBC Diff [complete blood count with differential], lumber puncture/spinal tap [to check for central nervous system involvement, meaning cancerous cells in the cerebrospinal fluid], X-rays/Cat scans and genetic testing [DNA analysis]. For Hodgkins and lymphoma, biopsies may also be done.

There is so much to learn about these diseases that it's impossible to boil it down into this single post. Here are some excellent information sources that I have personally used. Good luck to both of you.
http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/
http://www.fda.gov/../oashi/cancer/cancer.html

This is a direct link to the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center - you can look up descriptions of different cancers, diagnostics and therapies. JHCC is probably the leading cancer research and treatment facility in North America.
http://www.hopkinscancercenter.org/


The two sites below are for clinical trials, something you may want to consider.
http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/trials.html
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/c/a1b/screen/SimpleSearch?JServSessionIdzone_ct=i1 83gn5e91 (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/c/a1b/screen/SimpleSearch?JServSessionIdzone_ct=i183g n5e91)


[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 11-28-2002).]

Hi Mindy and Rob,Lymphomas(lumps)show in the neck,under the arm pits and in the groin,i don't know about behind the ears,incidentally i did not have any lumps on the outside mine was found via bone marrow aspiration.I have only just found this site if you have found out what your problem is i would be interested to here.Your problem could or could not be cancer of another kind(hope not).Keep pestering your doctor.
Keith.
PS YOU DID NOT SAY IF YOU WERE HAVING ANY OTHER SYMPTOMS SUCH AS NIGHT SWEATS,WEIGHT LOSS i had these plus cramps in my legs and feet and when i was working half way into my shift my hands would seize up and could not use them,this was February 2000,diagnosed March 2000,treated ChIVPP/PABLOE ALL CLEAR Sept 2000 had close shaves but not relapsed.


[This message has been edited by johnsonk59 (edited 02-27-2002).]

I have nodes behind my ears, too. But no night sweats or headaches. I have noticed several new nodes in my neck and under my armpits, however.