Any medical people around?

[HermioneIsMyHomegirl]

My MIL has had a growth removed today, which has been getting increasingly large and irritating over the last couple of years. She has told my husband that they told her immediately it was cancerous. Could and would they tell her without a biopsy that it was malignant?

Full disclosure, this is at least the 5th time she's had 'cancer' in the last decade - usually things like she's found a lump in her breast and decides herself that's what it is, then informs us as though it's fact. So I'm inclined to disbelieve her, but my husband is understandably concerned.

Hopeful bump?

They would need to biopsy and await results to confirm. They can suggest it but cannot tell straight away

Hope she’s well OP

Not an expert, but I don't think they can tell 100% what it is until they've run tests on the mass that was removed.

There are signs that point towards cancer but I don't think docs would make a diagnosis just based on how the mass looks.

Hope that makes sense!

Unless a CT or MRI shows a very clear picture (and even then it’s a risky way to diagnose), then a biopsy or blood test is the only definitive way to determine cancer. No way could it be diagnosed as cancerous with someone just touching and looking at it. The doctor may have a wealth of experience and be able to make a very educated guess, but it still wouldn’t be a conclusive diagnosis.

If she's already said that sort of thing 5 times I'd not worry til it's confirmed.

They probably said it looks like it could be cancerous, so best to have it removed and sent off to the lab to be sure.

If they thought it was definitely cancerous, then I would have thought that they would have arranged for her to have further tests, like a CT scan, to see if it had spread. Though full disclaimer I don't know much about skin cancer specifically.

Thanks all. You've pretty much confirmed what I was thinking - it may be suggested, but not confirmed.

Yet another claimed diagnosis. Sigh.

To the poster who asked - she's not well, no. Mentally, she's struggling. Which takes the form of multiple calls a day to my very patient and stoic husband. She lives a long way from us, so it's hard to try and get her the help she needs. I know I sound like a bitch, but it's incredibly hard, for DH especially. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him cry over the years, and the stress she's created is the no 1 cause.