would a doctor say you have cancer before biopsy results ?

Hi there:) , sorry to hear about your mum on the day I got my biopsys done the sergeon told me by her knowledge & of what she had seen before that I had a tumour & it was  cancer . Unfortunately  she was right . These people know ther stuff, & I don't think they would say anything like this unless they were certain, I can only hope & pray for u that this time ther wrong  xx  

Joey,

As Kat has said, it does happen.

I would add that normally this sort of statement would be qualified with the words possibly or probably. In my case I was told that I had a "growth" and that we would only know the type and whether or not it was benign after the biopsy results came back.

Although it was a shock, and I obviously wanted the results to show something different, the early warning gave me time to prepare myself for bad news. 

I hope your Mum's doctors were wrong and the results show something different. The PET scan will show in detail the size and shape of whatever was discovered during the endoscopy. 

Best wishes
Dave

Jo,

It sounds as if they are being very thorough, which is always a good thing. There are standard care pathways which use standard diagnostic tests. It's all routine, as they say on the best TV cop shows.

I'm not an expert but here's my simplified take on different scans (I'm hope someone who knows more about these things than I do will jump in and correct me if I get it wrong and I've added links to an NHS website which explains each of them). These are in ascending order of granularity/level of detail (and cost).

Ultrasound - uses high frequency soundwaves whose echoes are recorded and put on a screen. These are pretty good at spotting solid lumps like babies and some types of cancer, but there isn't much detail and the pictures can easily be obsured. In my case the ultrasound showed nothing, but I was told that this didn't mean that I was out of the woods.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Ultrasound-scan/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Endoscopy - a lovely experience as you know. The camera goes down (or up if the problem is at "the other end") and you can see every bump, lump and scar as it progresses. Small pieces of tissue can be cut out for testing (biopsies) without the need to cut into the body. In my case the endoscopy showed a large lump that hadn't shown up on the ultrasound and the bipsies identified that it was cancer and what type of cancer it was.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Endoscopy/Pages/Introduction.aspx

X-rays - the good old-fashioned 2D representation. Sometimes a standard X-ray for something else will show an unexpected "shadow" which will lead to a referral for further tests and scans.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/X-ray/Pages/Introduction.aspx

CT scan. A high number of salami slice X rays are taken of your body. These have enough detail to show exactly where a cancer is, whether it has spread elsewhere and, by comparing with earlier scans,  any changes in size.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ct-scan/pages/introduction.aspx

MRI scans - you lie in a strong magnetic field and radio-frequency waves are directed at your body. This produces highly detailed 3 D images of your body. MRI scans are often used to plan any physical surgical work. 
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/MRI-scan/Pages/How-does-it-work.aspx

PET scans - a special chemical is injected and the PET scan shows how this has built up - an indication of how well different organs are functioning. PET scans are often used with either CT or MRI scans to give the team with a really good view of what is happening.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/PET-scan/Pages/Introduction.aspx

I hope this helps!
Dave

I have a lump and had an ultrasound. The NP suggested cancer Without a biopsy and the oncologist did as well without a biopsy. The Oncologist and I had words (Not nice ones). I've since decided not to get a biopsy, found an MD that agrees with me about not getting the biopsy and am using more wholistic methods. 

Hi Simone,

A very warm welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear about your findings. Has your ultrasound shown up any irregularities?

Can I ask what your MD is doing in the way of more holistic methods, in order to avoid having a biopsy?

Please let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

hi this happened to me yesterday, I had a breast screening has I had found a lump , after the screening the doctor told me there was actually four lumps and they defo wernt cysts , she didn’t say in so many words that I defo had breast cancer but she didn’t need to , she took biopsy’s and said they would send them away to see how far it is and how we are going to treat it I thought you needed the results back first but she obv must know what she could see and feel , Bev x

am I over worrying and thinking that I’m only going to have five more years to live ? I keep reading things on the internet I can’t seem to stop myself I’m also due to go on holiday on the 14 th June do you think this is going to stop me goin my family will be so upset