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Oncology (General Cancer)/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| lump above armpit | 2/8/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I'm a twenty year old female and I noticed roughly about four weeks ago a painless lump on the ... A: My suspicion is that you are talking about a lipoma. Other possibilities in that part of your body ... | ||
| peri-menopause , ovarian cyst etc... | 2/5/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Nordquist, I hope you can help me with my problem. I am 50 year old female. I have had 2 ... A: A really complex cyst would be more suspected of being cancerous (a lesion with many cysts). It ... | ||
| peri-menopause , ovarian cyst etc... | 2/4/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Nordquist, I hope you can help me with my problem. I am 50 year old female. I have had 2 ... A: I honestly do not think these findings give you much cause for any worry! Just follow the advice of ... | ||
| Malignant melanoma of the lumps | 2/2/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Just over 2 years go my brother, 31, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma found is his big toe, ... A: Unfortunately malignant melanomas are usually not very sensitive to chemotherapy or radiation ... | ||
| night sweats | 2/1/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Ho, I am a 28 year old male. Recently I have had a rash of nights where I wake up with a sweaty ... A: It is impossible to tell you what this is based on just one symptom especially from afar. But let ... | ||
| Old Lump/Hard Testicle | 1/31/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: About 5-6 years ago I went to my Family Doctor because I noticed a hard lump on my left testicle. At ... A: Well, you are right. If you had an untreated testicular cancer 5 to 6 years ago you would hardly be ... | ||
| cancer/tumor | 1/30/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: just inside the inner lips on my vagina, i have a lump a little bigger than a pea,to me it looks red ... A: Without an examination I can not be sure what it is, but it does not have to be serious. It still ... | ||
| Lump in throat/Swollen lymph node in neck | 1/28/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I'm a 22 year old female. I've been having trouble with getting a diagnosis of what is wrong with me ... A: I don't know how serious it is but it is clearly bothering you a lot and that makes it serious ... | ||
| im soo worry please help me | 1/28/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: from more than a year i start feeling very itchy skin between my groin area (between my legs) with a ... A: If the problem continues despite using anti-fungal medication, I'd suggest a biopsy. There are ... | ||
| TIA/tumors | 1/26/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Dr.Higby, My father-inlaw woke up on Thanksgiving with numbness on his right side, loss of ... A: If he has those symptoms and a lung tumor, the first thing I'd want to do would be to do an MRI of ... | ||
| heredity/genetic link | 1/25/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I'm not sure if this is something you comment on, but I thought I would try... I'm a mother of three ... A: Testicular cancer is not hereditary. Prostate and breast cancer can run in families. The fact that ... | ||
| Head of Pancreas Hypoechoic | 1/24/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Recently I have had upper back pain, nausea, acid reflux, and weight loss. In 2008 my bile duct ... A: A negative needle biopsy should not be considered proof that something isn't cancerous. It is ... | ||
| blood lab results | 1/22/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Dr. Higby, Thank you for taking my question. My 75-year-old mother just received her annual labs ... A: I don't know what her hemoglobin level is. My approach would be to make sure iron, b12, and folic ... | ||
| Local eczema on areola and puffing of areola | 1/22/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My wife had for the last half year red limited to the same point eczema,that was treated with ... A: It is rare for 28 year olds to get breast cancer, but not unheard of. If creams aren't helping and ... | ||
| Lung Nodules | 1/20/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: While undergoing a CAT scan for something totally unrelated, 3 lung modules of around 7mm were found ... A: Having asthma for years and years, and getting lung infections can lead to scarring. This can ... | ||
| Throat cancer | 1/19/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My father (71 years) recently had a planned biopsy of his throat because the doctor thought it might ... A: I don't quite understand your question. Did your father have the biopsy or was it cancelled ... | ||
| Breast Cancer | 1/19/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. The doctor recommended a mastectomy ... A: Even though the cancer has metastasized, it may be quite controllable for a while, depending on a ... | ||
| cancer in small intestine of my dog | 1/19/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Dr. Nordquist, My 10 1/2 year old dog was diagnosed with either adenocarcinoma or fibrocarcinoma by ... A: Sorry, I'm not a veterinarian so this is outside my area of expertise. I'm here ONLY as a cancer ... | ||
| neroendocrine cancer | 1/18/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My cousin who is 16 yrs old was diagnosed with neuro endocrine cancer in the base of the appendix. ... A: This sounds like a carcinoid tumor to me. Sunatinib doesn't affect carcinoids, but does affect ... | ||
| Pituitary gland problem? | 1/18/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: I know this should probably be in the endocrinology section, but they all only specialise in ... A: Well, without an examination I can not come far by just knowing your symptoms. I do suggest that ... | ||
| Fatty bulge after mole removal | 1/17/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I had a mole removed on my panty line, low on my buttock, several years ago. At first there was a ... A: I don't know where you live, but it sounds like this could be managed as an outpatient. If you have ... | ||
| bone and lung cancer gone into remission | 1/17/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: I have a friend who has had chemo and then radiation. They didn't finish her chemo for whatever ... A: Since it has spread to her lungs her tumor is a stage 4 one. Such tumors are in principle incurable ... | ||
| Leukimia | 1/16/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: What causes the white cell count to increase and is there any dietary changes that can help to ... A: Leukemia cells have mutated so that they don't respond to the normal controls that keep the white ... | ||
| ct scan | 1/14/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: i have been having some upper left quadrant pain for a few months now. my doctor had me get a chest ... A: In some areas contrast would probably be better. But discuss that with your doctor. The kidney ... | ||
| paraneoplastic syndrome due to thymoma | 1/12/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Higby, I am sorry for taking your time again. You have recently answered my question regarding ... A: Benign thymomas have been known to cause paraneoplastic problems. I don't think I can make a ... | ||
| paraneoplastic syndrome due to thymoma | 1/10/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Higby, I am sorry for taking your time again. You have recently answered my question regarding ... A: In answer to your questions, 1. The existence of a recognized paraneoplastic process increases the ... | ||
| Pain in leg bones. | 1/9/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: For the past maybe 5 or so years (I'm 18) I have been experiencing pain in predominantly my lower ... A: At your age and with the symptoms you describe it is most probably NOT related to cancer. But let a ... | ||
| Breast cancer | 1/7/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: The Tumer is 3.5 and the reports showed up that out of 12 lymph nodes 7 are infected by cancerous ... A: In her case with seven positive lymph nodes she had stage IIIa breast cancer. The tumor markers ... | ||
| cancer | 1/7/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Could placebo effect, reiki, and belief cure cancer. There's usually a news about these things in ... A: I've never seen evidence of this in my career as a cancer doctor, nor can I figure out how any of ... | ||
| Brain Cancer | 1/5/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: Does a GBM stage 4 ever go away? A: Practically never. The exceptions are so few and we can not distinguish them in advance that I ... | ||
| Breast Cancer | 1/4/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I have a very strange question to be asked frankly.My wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer and ... A: When breast cancer is diagnosed, we stage it. That means that based on the information (size of ... | ||
| kidney calcification | 1/3/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: i was recently seen in the er for upper left abd pain. with the ct scan it showed calcification in ... A: kidney calcifications are common. they usually happen in areas where there has been tissue injury. ... | ||
| Thyroid Cancer? | 1/2/2012 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: I am 68 years old and 16 months ago I was tested and had a nodule in the thyroid and a swollen ... A: You should be worried about the spot in the lung, but I doubt it has anything to do with the ... | ||
| Vincristine and other Chemotherapy Drugs | 1/2/2012 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: I was wondering: Why do chemotherapy drugs affect rapidly dividing cells more than normally dividing ... A: Well, cancer cells divide in an unregulated, uncontroled fashion so also usually more rapidly than ... | ||
| PSA levels | 12/30/2011 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My husband had a prostatectomy 6 years ago. He was told the cancer had been contained in the ... A: A rising PSA in a patient who has had a prostatectomy means that there is prostate cancer somewhere. ... | ||
| MRI and CT results. | 12/30/2011 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: Last year I was have an issue with my heart and was seen in the ER.CT came back ok for the heart but ... A: I don't think what is going on is related to the thyroid nodules, and if the current CT scan is ... | ||
| spleen | 12/29/2011 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: for the past several weeks i have had a unexplained pain under my let ribcage at the bottom, under ... A: It may or may not have anything to do with your spleen. Without an examination it is impossible to ... | ||
| primary peritonial carsonoma | 12/27/2011 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: i have been in remission from my cancer since 2009 i wasn't feeling right so i went to my ... A: The change in Ca 125 could indeed be due to an infection; that number goes up whenever there is ... | ||
| Blood in mucus in morning | 12/22/2011 | Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. |
| Q: I'm 22 yr old female with history of hayfever and dust pollen allergies, affecting my nose and ... A: Even in China you are rather young for a cancer there. Your questions can not be answered without an ... | ||
| Natural Treatment Product - Maca | 12/21/2011 | Donald Higby, M.D. |
| Q: My wife is in the early stages of menopause and is suffering from hair loss, depression, tiredness ... A: In theory, anything with estrogen-like properties could conceivably trigger any breast cancer cells ... | ||
Oncology (General Cancer)
Answers by Expert:
Donald Higby, M.D.
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I can answer almost all questions related to the treatment and natural course of most kinds of cancer, especially cancers of prostate, colon, lung and breast.
Experience
I have been a practicing medical oncologist for 36 years, and have been chief of service at a major medical center for 25 years. I've also done research in cancer treatments.
Organizations
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Publications
New England Journal of Medicine
American Journal of Medicine
Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
Hematology
Transfusion Medicine
Education/Credentials
MD, Stanford University
Internal Medicine residency, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Medical Oncology Fellowship, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
Awards and Honors
America's Best Physicians, last 14 years
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