Harry, I was contacted privately by another member that reminded me in their case pain was the first symptom. Here is my reply to that experience:

I know that there are almost unlimited ways that our cancers present themselves.

Some do have pain early too. Quite a few though, don't. My thoughts to him (Harry) rely heavily on A. the time he has been having this problem, and B. the fact that he is being seen by several
Docs and had a significant battery of scans. Over the amount of time, if cancer were the problem it probably would have grown to a point of being dectectable.

I would not tell him (Harry) that this couldn't be cancer either. One thing I've learned by being on the OCF forum is that this SCC can be sneaky.

I am adding this reply to clarify my thoughts. Not to eliminate cancer as a possibility but to introduce other ideas to help. Obviuosly, you are on a cancer forum and going to hear a lot about cancer. I think it wise to remember (out loud) that there are other thing that can cause pain. That does not mean I claim to know that this is or is not cancer.