I'm feeling a mass form on my right jaw Bone where it curves underneath to my neck. I'm in southern california and I'd like to see an oncologist who has a lot of experience. Can someone please point me in right direction? Thanks so much, I'm so worried now.

Have you seen your general physician yet? That might be a good first place to start since there may be another reason for the mass rather than cancer.

Your general practitioner will initiate tests that would give some direction as to what specialist to whom you would need a referral.

That being said, if and when you need an oncologist, your best option for cancer treatment is a National Cancer Institute approved Comprehensive Cancer Center. However, your choice may depend upon your insurance coverage. At the very least, you can arrange to have a second opinion (which I can't stress enough the importance of a second opinion) conducted at a CCC. That way, you can make sure you are getting an accurate diagnosis and appropriate care.

There is a list of CCC's on this website. You are lucky to live in California--there are many from which to choose. Personally, I recommend City of Hope in Los Angeles--it is a CCC--and it only handles cancer. My signature, below, summarizes why I recommend City of Hope. That's where my ex-husband had his 2nd opinion. The folks at City of Hope spared him a good portion of treatment by determining he was misdiagnosed as having cancer when he actually had a benign condition. UCLA is excellent, as well.

If you choose to by-pass the GP and go directly to an oncologist, then I suggest you start at a CCC. I assume they will take it from there with diagnostic scans, tests, etc. If not, they will bump you back to your GP.

Yes, suspecting you have oral cancer is frightening. But, please, try to stay calm. Try not to think of the worst case scenario. Even if something shows up on a scan, it doesn't necessarily mean you have cancer. Only a read on a biopsy of a tissue sample can tell for certain that it is or isn't cancer.

Take care and I hope it turns out to be nothing.

A mass could be an enlarged lymph node. I would suggest going first to your family doctor. If something has been there for 2 weeks without subsiding then get it checked out. An Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) who specializes in cancer patients would be a great place to start also.


Here is a list of the best US hospitals for cancer....
http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/cancer

Here is the list of National Cancer Institute approved cancer centers, along with other important info....
http://oralcancerfoundation.org/resources/index.htm#centers

Templeton: Sandy and Christine are right. Stay calm, see your general physician or an ENT.

Thanks for your responses. I have Kaiser insurance but would rather go to a CCC center. Is this possible? I want to get the best treatment possible if needed.

If you do a search for Kaiser using the search box at the right of these messages, you'll find a number of members who have dealt with that insurance. You can find them in the User List at the top of the page and send an e-mail or private message asking about their experiences with Kaiser. I recall that Gary, one of the administrators (you can get his contact info by clicking on his name in the "Top Posters" box at the right of this message), was with Kaiser at the time he was treated.

You are going to want to start with your GP who will then give you a reference to an ENT. The ENT will handle your primary care for this at that point and will do what needs to be done to get a firm diagnosis of what's going on. The ENT will get a biopsy done of this mass and then order pathology testing which will tell you for certain if the mass is or is not cancer. If it IS cancer, then the ENT will will work with you to get a referral to a cancer center where they will then establish a treatment plan for you.

I would say this is a pretty typical process that most people here went through. The important thing is to get the ball rolling. See your GP as soon as possible and they will get you the referral you need. And don't panic. You don't KNOW you have cancer yet. It could be a lot of things other than cancer. Like many many things.

You can call your insurance company and check what their practices are They can also tell you which cancer centers to go to if necessary. Hank is right, at this point you dont know what is going on, it might not be cancer. Hope you have good results and dont need to deal with having cancer.