Hi there! I agree with pretty much everything said (again) - different cancers have different temperaments! They may share the same name but that's it. I think a lot of it has to do with how your body works. Anne's cancer as she said was supposed to be small and superficially invasive - a T1 (check out the size listed in her footer)- I believe she'd had it a short time - id had mine for 5-6 years! It was bigger a T2 1.4 cm deep x 2.4 cm wide - yet we both had the same node involvement - 1 node with ECE (extra capular extension - when cancer has grown outside the node). My node was clear as I had scans right after my diagnosis - and at that point it was localized - then within weeks I had a 1.5 cm node. The differentiation of the cancer is important as it generally indicates agressiveness - well differentiated means it is most like your own normal cells and is generally the least aggressive - moderately - is middle of the road - and poorly is spastic... Least like your own cells and often very aggressive. The up side to poorly is because the poorly diff. cells are so malformed (they reproduce quickly thus don't mature and don't have all the right components)- chemo and rads are more effective against them. But catching them is the hard part because they get around. To muddy the waters further - you can have 2 different differentiations - my original tumor was well differentiated - my node was moderate to well. When it moves it changes. So that probably didn't answer your question all that well, but at least maybe it familiarized you with some of the lingo. Bottom line you definitely caught it early - I think you said about a needle biopsy... If so then they may need to remove more! You're looking for clear margins - and even then - after a second or third opinion - one of which should be from an ENT - from a good ccc - if they recommend more treatment - go for it. Good luck. My hope or you is that this is just a blip in the road for you. take care!