Hello everyone,

Does mets to cervical lymph nodes normally occur on one side of the neck? And, do they typically get larger over time without treatment? I was wondering because my friend's dad has noticed a small bump on the cervical lymph nodes. I am not a doctor, but I asked him if I could feel it. It's a small mass (less than 1cm), slightly moveable, and I can't quantify if they are hard or not. He does have another one on the corresponding side of the neck. I told him to schedule an appt with a doctor, but he said it has been like this for over a year. My question to you all is, if it was cancer, would the lymph nodes have enlarged by now?

Again, thanks for any help.

It's unlikely that cancer would not have progressed further after a year. Cancerous nodes are usually firm, fixated in place, and painless to the patient. They can be bilateral (I was) in advanced patients. But by that time there is usually a frank presentation of the disease intraorally. The could be something other than a lymph node, such as a cyst.

He needs to have it checked out ASAP. I recommend finding an ENT.

Lymph Node maybe swollen as a result of some infection as well. It has to be correlated with other factors like weight loss, loss of apettite, sore throat, fever, night chills etc. Even if he has been asymptomatic, it is prudent to get it checked by an ENT and let him decide if a biopsy is required.

As mentined, go see an ENT! Certain primary cancers have a predictable drainage pathway to the lymphs, some one side only, but certain primaries, like the BOT can go to both, and that may even change based on the tumor size Andover invasion.

The white spots can be thrush, candida, smokng, other infection and is called leukoplakia, common disorder, and can progress to cancer. The red type, eryhoplakia lesion, is less common, an more indicative of cancet, which has to be ruled out as cancer.

6 months before being diagnosed, I had a red spot on my tongue, white patches I I thought was just an infection,, and went away. After a Lymph node was enlarged, I decided to go go the doctor, and diagnose with tonsil Cancer, BOT.