a question - is AN a form of cancer?

[carter]

i have known about my AN for about 3 weeks now.  i have been trying to read and learn.  today as i typed in AN under Google a web site read something like "AN - a form of cancer"

i backed out without reading the site as this is something that i had never thought about in all of my 3 weeks of experience.  i have had the AN referred to as a growth, a tumor, and i have referred to it by some very bad words / thoughts.  i know that it is non malignant.   but i had never thougth of having cancer.....just an AN tumor.

my wife has had breast cancer and i learned to hate and fear the word.

i know that i am beign overly sensitive right now?  but is an AN a cancer?  i know it is semantics, but this is the first time as i thought of the AN in this way.

don't let the little bast__d win!
carter

[Kaybo]

Carter~
I'm sure that others will have much better answers, but I have NEVER (in 13 years) thought of it or heard anyone refer to it as "cancer"...

K

[Debbi]

Carter-

I think you may have stumbled on one of the less-than-credible websites that are out there.  AN's are tumors, but they are not cancerous.  I do recall seeing a reference like the one you mention at some point, but felt that it was a very questionable website not written or approved by any medical professionals.  I think one the reasons some docs don't want their patients surfing the web for info is that so much of the info our there is pure opinion rather than scientific or validated fact.  That being said, I am one who believes in educating myself and in being very involved in my treatment options.  Just be careful to check the sources of what you are reading.  Don't lose sleep over this one, Carter!   

Debbi

[HeadCase2]

Carter,
  I agree with Kaybo, AN is not considered a cancer.  Cancer has much higher growth rates, and can metastasize (spread) to other areas of the body.  AN is very slow growing compared to a maglignant cancerous tumor. AN growth rate is usually quoted as averaging about 2mm per year.  And some AN patients exhibit no growth of their AN for some period of time.
Regards,
  Rob

[Sue]

NO

It's not cancer!  It's a non-malignant tumor.  Still an ugly word, tumor, but it's not cancerous.  It is not the best thing to have growing inside one's head, but it's not cancerous.  It can cause a lot of trouble and has to be treated somewhere down the line, but it is not cancerous!!   

I got some kind of survey to fill out after my GK about my "cancer".  I sent it back and wrote in big letters I DID NOT HAVE CANCER! 

But just because it's benign, does not mean it's friendly.  It may irritate you to death, but it won't kill you by being cancerous. 

Well, glad I got THAT off my chest! 

Sue in Vancouver

[carter]

thanks for the replies --- my mind is still mush for the present

don't let the little basta__d win!
carter

[Jim Scott]

Carter:

Ah, the fallacy of ill-informed internet websites strikes again! 

I think you have your answer but for what it may be worth, I'm pretty confident that any doctor - especially an oncologist - would agree that an acoustic neuroma is definitely not a cancer.   It is a tumor (uncontrolled growth) but it does not metastasize or invade other tissues, which is why it is called 'benign'.   I believe that anyone calling an acoustic neuroma a 'cancer' is misinformed, to be polite about it.

Jim

[wendysig]

Carter,
I know it's been said again and again, but in case you can't hear it too many times -- an AN, while a lousy diagnosis is NOT cancer.  The site that called it a form of cancer was extremely misinformed, to be polite.

Wendy

[lori67]

Carter -  I'm not going to bother repeating what everyone else has said since I agree with them.

I will just say - "that little bast__d" won't win!  You are tougher than that AN!!    that's my mean face getting mad at that AN!!)  Pretty scary, huh?

Lori

[mk]

My radiologist report refered to the AN as being "well encapsulated". This is the big difference - a cancerous tumor spreads to the surrounding tissues, whereas a benign tumor not.

Marianna

[ppearl214]

simple answer....


No!

Phyl

[leapyrtwins]

Carter -

ANs are 99.9% benign. 

Jan

[calimama]

INTERESTING!!

I was reading the paper (Canada's Globe and Mail, very reputable national paper) on the way home from work the other day and there was an article in there about cell phone use and cancer. Basically a bunch of researchers trying to make a connection (or not) between cell phone use and cancer.

ANYWAY...i am reading along and come across this...

"The study, which begain in earnest in 2000, is looking at four cancers that could have connection to cell phones...."
then in the next paragraph...
"They {the four} are: glioma...; meningioma...; acoustic neurinoma, a cancer found in the the inner-ear area; ..."

SO???!!? i am thinking either somebody out there has some bad info, or there is an "acoustic NEURINOMA" (note the different spelling from our ANs) that sounds like an AN, but is cancerous!  So I googled the tumor with the spelling used in the article and all i find our standard AN websites/links out there.

Anyway, i am attaching the link to the Globe article here in case anybody wants to read it for themselves...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081024.wlcellphone24/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/

Trish

[sgerrard]

somebody out there has some bad info, or there is an "acoustic NEURINOMA"

Bad info.

An acoustic neurinoma is the same thing as an acoustic neuroma. Neither one is a malignant tumor.

There are a handful of ANs that have turned into malignant tumors. They may be rare enough not to have their own name, but they are a different thing altogether from an AN.

(One recent report says 8 cases, 4 of which were spontaneous, 4 of which had previously been radiated - see the article posted by Sandra: http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=7837.0).

Steve

[MAlegant]

Eek!  NO, NOT CANCER. 
M