Surprise Tumor Size???

[sharonov]

I've been reading this site more and more as I face potential (probable) surgery, and have a question.  With MRI imaging showing the tumor from various angles, why do so many people say, "when they got in there they found the tumor to be xxx instead of x?"  You'd think the MRI would nail it!  I know, I have 0 medical training, but also, why can't they tell if the doggone thing is wrapped around another nerve before they get in?

Second question, since ANs can grow and killl you and do multiple bad things, why is it not classified as cancer?  Is it because cells don't break off and go other places and just stay happily on the 8th cranial nerve and are just overgrowths of schwannoma cells?  And did I just answer my own question?

[leapyrtwins]

Tests are tests; images are images.  Both of them tell a "story".  Only actually seeing something can give you a true picture of what it is.  Although ANs show up quite clearly on an MRI with contrast, inside your head there is a lot of "stuff" that the MRI doesn't show.  Docs don't have a totally accurate picture of an AN until they actually "open up your head", so to speak.

There are a lot of things that can grow and kill you that aren't cancer.  IMO that's why ANs aren't classified as cancer.  The cells themselves are different from cancer cells.

Jan 

[Tumbleweed]

Sharonov, you pretty much nailed it as far as why ANs are not considered cancerous. There are three things which differentiate cancerous tumors from benign ones:
1. Cancerous tumors tend to grow very quickly, whereas benign ones tend to grow very slowly;
2. Cancerous tumors invade other tissues. Benign tumors, on the other hand, are encapsulated; the problem with benign tumors isn't that they invade other tissues but that they take up more and more space as they grow, crowding out and putting pressure on healthy, sensitive tissues such as cranial nerves and the brainstem;
3. Cancerous tumors metastisize (sp?), spreading to other areas, whereas benign tumors are self-contained and don't sprout up elsewhere.

Best wishes,
TW