Petrified of not knowing if it's cancer

Dear Merci 

Thanks for getting in touch with Macmillan Cancer support during what sounds like an anxious time. I’m Linda, one of the nurses from our support line.

It’s understandable that you called to see if the results were available, and it sounds like the receptionist may not have been clear about this with their response.

As administrative staff are not medically trained they are unable to give results. This can be because of the technical medical information that is included within results, that they may not understand. And, irrespective of the results, they may not be able to answer any questions that you could have. This is why results are given by a nurse or a doctor.

Sonographers go through intensive programmes to allow them to use ultrasound scans. They will be trained to examine areas of the body and interpret the pictures that they are looking at. There will be particular characteristics that show on the screen that they should expect to see. If there are unexpected or unusual features, they will look at these in more detail to establish the reason. They will then use a specific scoring system to report the likelihood of something being cancerous or benign. Though no test is 100% accurate research shows that ultrasound technology has a hight rate of success for assessing for cancer and other conditions of the breast.

Ultrasound pictures can help to rule out abnormalities and can help with the diagnosis of cancer. But they are only one part of the jigsaw, and this is why other test like biopsies are needed to help understand more. Having a biopsy is regarded as the gold standard assessment and this should help to determine what is going on.

If there is cancer present it is likely that the results would be discussed at a multi-disciplinary team meeting, this is where treatment recommendations are made. Some people may have their results before this meeting and have a preliminary plan made, and others may wait until after the meeting. It can vary from hospital to hospital, but these meetings do take place regularly.

Waiting for results can be a stressful time and I hope that you hear back from the nurse soon. In preparation it might help to look at our information Questions to ask your healthcare team.

And if you would like to chat with our nurses you are welcome to call our support line or use our online chat service.

Though we won’t be able to tell you any more than you already know it can sometimes be good to call us for support and guidance

Best wishes

Linda

Macmillan Cancer Information Nurse

The Macmillan Support Line offers practical, clinical, financial and emotional support. You can call us free from landlines and from most mobile phone networks on 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week, 8am – 8pm or contact us by email or webchat. 

Ref: LM/GH

Many thanks for your reply. A nurse called and said my results are going to an MDT meeting but also said that all biopsies are are seen by the disciplinary team. I’m just nervous they told me this because they don’t want to tell me through the phone…the nurse did say she doesn’t know my results. My mind is just going into overdrive at the moment after mentioning MDT… 

Hi Merci,

Thanks for getting back in touch. I’m glad you have heard from the nurse but appreciate that you didn’t get the response you had hoped for.

Though practice varies throughout the UK, some MDT’s will discuss all biopsy results at their meeting. This allows for the specialty team to agree that they are happy, and no further action is needed. In the case of some benign results there may be a discussion about whether further tests or treatment should be offered. And where cancer has been found it allows for treatment planning.

The not knowing period, waiting for results, can be the hardest time. And lots of people do tell us that once they know the outcome, irrespective of what they are told, that nerves and anxiety begin to ease. This is either because they know that there is no cancer, and if there is they have a plan and timeline to work with.

If you’d like to call us, we’d be more than happy to take your call. This can be helpful as it allows us to privately support you, rather than chat on an open forum

Take care

Linda (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist)

Ref LM/AW