After confirming I have a high rate of MGUS my doctor thought it a good idea to get a bone survey (x-ray large bones and skull for the uninformed) just to eliminate multiple myeloma. Turns out there is a skull lesion so they perform a CT but later they say though it's there it appears benign. I guess the obvious question is what is the lesion doing there to begin with if it's benign. Did not some process or disease create the lesion???
Perhaps I'm just too ignorant but my guess is that skull lesions don't just form for no apparent reason. Am I off base here?
Forums
6 posts
• Page 1 of 1
-
scott - Name: Scott
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Maybe Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Oct/2010 McKay-Dee Hospital Ogden, UT
- Age at diagnosis: 49
Re: Can a skull lesion be considered benign?
Hi Scott,
Lesions are one of the manifestations of multiple myeloma. The lesions go away with treatment, generally. Scans will also show small holes in the skeleton that look like swiss cheese over time as the disease progresses and also can heal, with treatment.
I think, though I'm not a medico, that the lesion being "benign" is basically something the blood cancer folks always have to adapt to that is different from the "tumor" cancer folks.
When my husband first went into the hospital with severe back pain (T8 compression fracture) they did a chest CT scan in the ER to see what else might be going on other than a pulled muscle. The radiologist was in a small town hospital and he saw my husband riddled with lesions and told him he had metastatic cancer of the spine. The oncologist called in recognized immediately that it was multiple myeloma. Thus the lesions aren't the "cancer" but one of the manifestations of it. And you may already know this, but its "multiple" myeloma because it shows up in multiple places, i.e., no original site, which is what the tumor cancer always have. We don't have that. Its in our blood, so its everywhere.
Hope that helps to clarify it a little bit for you.
Best,
Lori
Lesions are one of the manifestations of multiple myeloma. The lesions go away with treatment, generally. Scans will also show small holes in the skeleton that look like swiss cheese over time as the disease progresses and also can heal, with treatment.
I think, though I'm not a medico, that the lesion being "benign" is basically something the blood cancer folks always have to adapt to that is different from the "tumor" cancer folks.
When my husband first went into the hospital with severe back pain (T8 compression fracture) they did a chest CT scan in the ER to see what else might be going on other than a pulled muscle. The radiologist was in a small town hospital and he saw my husband riddled with lesions and told him he had metastatic cancer of the spine. The oncologist called in recognized immediately that it was multiple myeloma. Thus the lesions aren't the "cancer" but one of the manifestations of it. And you may already know this, but its "multiple" myeloma because it shows up in multiple places, i.e., no original site, which is what the tumor cancer always have. We don't have that. Its in our blood, so its everywhere.
Hope that helps to clarify it a little bit for you.
Best,
Lori
-
habubrat - Name: Lori
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2008
- Age at diagnosis: 48
Re: Can a skull lesion be considered benign?
Scott, according the latest release at TMB, https://myelomabeacon.org/news/2010/10/20/experts-assess-key-proteins-of-bone-formation-and-degradation-as-prognostic-tools-for-multiple-myeloma-and-myeloma-related-bone-disease/
Bone lesions don't always go away. I guess we were very lucky that Dave's did disappear. Just thought I would clarify that point as it would appear that I was making some potentially incorrect assumptions on that point, at least according to this paper.
Lori
Bone lesions don't always go away. I guess we were very lucky that Dave's did disappear. Just thought I would clarify that point as it would appear that I was making some potentially incorrect assumptions on that point, at least according to this paper.
Lori
-
habubrat - Name: Lori
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Husband
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2008
- Age at diagnosis: 48
Re: Can a skull lesion be considered benign?
my niece is currently going to md anderson for cancer trearments. they have not started as of today yet. aside from her metastetic mylonama cancer, they found small lesions on her head, they said for her not to worry, they had to find the other fast growing cancer, before it was to late.
the problem is they are not being able to locate the root of the cancer. I'm worried the root might be in the lesions in her head, because its spreading fast and they still can;t find it. they stated it looked like a new type of cancer. i don't know if a new one of the one that's already exsists,or a new type of different cancer.
she has the lympnotes all over and i'm extremely worried. the lesiones are on her skull but we don;t know exactly where. she has someh on her neck, from the thyroid cancer, she swells to about twice her face size, and she experiences extreme weakness to her body. All her fathers siblings died of cancer, so did her dad. Five months ago she lost her little boy to cancer also, not knowing what his illness was. they attributed to allergies, but now we know better. he suffered from brain cancer, malignant. Supposedly it's considered genetic cancer. there are other members of her family who have cancer, or died from the disease.
I hope someone can help me so I can be there for her, when i'm needed. the lesions are located on her skull, don't know the exact area yet..
the problem is they are not being able to locate the root of the cancer. I'm worried the root might be in the lesions in her head, because its spreading fast and they still can;t find it. they stated it looked like a new type of cancer. i don't know if a new one of the one that's already exsists,or a new type of different cancer.
she has the lympnotes all over and i'm extremely worried. the lesiones are on her skull but we don;t know exactly where. she has someh on her neck, from the thyroid cancer, she swells to about twice her face size, and she experiences extreme weakness to her body. All her fathers siblings died of cancer, so did her dad. Five months ago she lost her little boy to cancer also, not knowing what his illness was. they attributed to allergies, but now we know better. he suffered from brain cancer, malignant. Supposedly it's considered genetic cancer. there are other members of her family who have cancer, or died from the disease.
I hope someone can help me so I can be there for her, when i'm needed. the lesions are located on her skull, don't know the exact area yet..
-
aggie3lop
Re: Can a skull lesion be considered malignant ?
scott wrote:
> After confirming I have a high rate of MGUS my doctor thought it a good idea to get a
> bone survey (x-ray large bones and skull for the uninformed) just to eliminate multiple
> myeloma. Turns out there is a skull lesion so they perform a CT but later they say
> though it's there it appears benign. I guess the obvious question is what is the lesion
> doing there to begin with if it's benign. Did not some process or disease create the
> lesion???
Perhaps I'm just too ignorant but my guess is that skull lesions don't just form for no apparent reason. Am I off base here?
> After confirming I have a high rate of MGUS my doctor thought it a good idea to get a
> bone survey (x-ray large bones and skull for the uninformed) just to eliminate multiple
> myeloma. Turns out there is a skull lesion so they perform a CT but later they say
> though it's there it appears benign. I guess the obvious question is what is the lesion
> doing there to begin with if it's benign. Did not some process or disease create the
> lesion???
Perhaps I'm just too ignorant but my guess is that skull lesions don't just form for no apparent reason. Am I off base here?
-
Anonymous
Re: Can a skull lesion be considered benign?
In multiple myeloma, we do bone surveys and other confirmatory imaging to assess and identify lytic bone disease- think about swiss cheese or moth eaten bones. More often there are a few lesions that look like holes in your bones. In your calvarium (and other bones) there are benign cysts or venous lakes (normal areas in your skull for vessels) that can look a lot like lytic lesions. These are not always easy to differentiate. MRIs and CTs can frequently help in providing better evidence.
It the case of your niece, I am not sure what exactly is going on. Having two concomitant diseases is rare in multiple myeloma (myeloma and thyroid cancer), but it definitely happens. Bone disease is an aspect of myeloma. Finding the source: the source is the bone marrow- multiple myeloma by definition is a systemic disease (essentially already "metastatic"); there is no single site of disease to cut out. Further lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) is rare in myeloma and suggest either an aggressive subtype or alternate/additional diagnosis.
Your niece needs a complete staging for both the multiple myeloma and thyroid cancer. And then to start therapy for the cancer that is most likely causing her most relevant symptoms. Having her care at MD Anderson in Houston - I would suggest that you are in a good place and have experts who will help guide the most appropriate course of action.
I can only imaging how tough this must be for your family. We all wish you and your niece the best of luck.
It the case of your niece, I am not sure what exactly is going on. Having two concomitant diseases is rare in multiple myeloma (myeloma and thyroid cancer), but it definitely happens. Bone disease is an aspect of myeloma. Finding the source: the source is the bone marrow- multiple myeloma by definition is a systemic disease (essentially already "metastatic"); there is no single site of disease to cut out. Further lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) is rare in myeloma and suggest either an aggressive subtype or alternate/additional diagnosis.
Your niece needs a complete staging for both the multiple myeloma and thyroid cancer. And then to start therapy for the cancer that is most likely causing her most relevant symptoms. Having her care at MD Anderson in Houston - I would suggest that you are in a good place and have experts who will help guide the most appropriate course of action.
I can only imaging how tough this must be for your family. We all wish you and your niece the best of luck.
-
Dr. Ken Shain - Name: Ken Shain, M.D., Ph.D.
Beacon Medical Advisor
6 posts
• Page 1 of 1