Had a biopsy on ear , now I have a face to face appointment. Its a 3mm macule. What would be next steps if cancer
Had a biopsy on ear , now I have a face to face appointment. Its a 3mm macule. What would be next steps if cancer
Hi Rach77,
Thank you for getting in touch with us and welcome to the online community. I hope you find it supportive and helpful. My name is Adrienne and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
It’s understandable that you would want to know what happens next, should the biopsy determine you have cancer. The next steps very much depend on what type of cancer is found and where in the ear the cancer is. You can read more about this here. Your doctor may want you to have a scan to get a clearer picture of what is going on so that they can come up with the best treatment plan for you. However, if the cancer is on the outer part of the ear and is slow growing, they may decide to offer surgery to the area without any further investigations being done. Alternatively, they may offer radiotherapy to the area which would include a planning scan prior to having it but this will all be discussed with you at your face to face appointment.
When someone is found to have cancer from a biopsy, they are usually discussed at a multi-disciplinary team meeting (MDT) which comprises of specialists such as surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and specialist nurses as well as other allied health professionals such as physiotherapists or speech and language therapists (SALT). At this meeting, the specialists will go through all of the information from the biopsy and scans (if applicable) and determine the best treatment plan for you going forward. They will then discuss this with you and explain the aim of the treatment (e.g. curative) and what the treatment will look like in terms of length of time, side-effects etc. It may be helpful to look at some of these questions on what you can ask your healthcare team at your appointment.
I really hope this information was helpful but please know that you can always give us a call to talk things through further. It can help and it gives you the opportunity to ask us questions. Hopefully you will know more about what to expect once you’ve spoken to your doctor about your results.
I wish you all the best with your results.
Take care,
Adrienne (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
Ref: AMc/Lrob
