I was looking at info on cases misdiagnosed as SCC of tonsil , when it was actually Non hodgkins lymphoma. A few of these cases the subject was HIV+. There were quite a few of these cases. NHL is usually first presented with a fixed swollen painless lymph node. then progresses to tonsil or BOT. I know that this is probably not the case for me. I thought I would talk to you folks before my Doctor. But boy if it is NHL , OH BOY! shawn u.

Didnt you have a biopsy that came back with a path report saying it was SCC?

[quote=ChristineB]Didnt you have a biopsy that came back with a path report saying it was SCC? [/quote]

I read that too. Just doing some Dr. Googling?

"T"

yes that is what my ENT told me I had, I was just reading that there were some cases of NHL that were misdiagnosed as SCC. ANd that my presenting symptom was a swollen lymph node. And then ent noticed my tonsils were not symmetric so took a biopsy of left tonsil and then told me that it was SCC of tonsil. MY point is that if lymph node was of NHL origin and then met. to Tonsil. Instead of other way around. And that I am HIV, people with HIV are much more likely to get NHL over any other cancer due to Immune system being compromised. My mother has Ebstien Barr.(I do not know if I have ebstien Barr) And Ebstien Barr is another risk factor for NHL. Tonsil is one of the more likely sites for NHL. to met to along with BOT." Painless swelling of a lymph node is the most common symptom of lymphoma" Mine was painless. I never saw any pathology reports, only told what the findings were. And I had read how common it was for lymphomas to be mistaken for SCC. Then found from DR. google about risk factors for lymphoma I know that only 1 in 10 oropharynx cancers are lymphomas. But it would be just my luck that I am another one of these miss diagnosed Lymphoma cases.

I hope I am not taking the boards valuable time on this for not. Shawn U.

Just my mind going too far, It embarrasses me to no end. But when I am in the moment it seems to be plausible.

Shawn U.(hypo)

Shawn, I guess it's not impossible to have dual diseases, but not probable, and assume your doctors gave no further indication of other disease. Your cancer was probably shown to be SCC on several biopsies, and a HIV person is also 6x more likely to have HPV oropharynx cancer compared to others, so it's not uncommon there. I don't know how NHL is diagnosed, maybe by bone marrow biopsy, but there are also other high risk HIV cancers, if one wants to look at these also, and also non HIV people can look at other cancers, diseases too, and would probably have symptoms for many. It's best to focus and spend your energy on what's at hand, unless your doctors want to investigate other matters.