Inconclusive Biopsy

My mother was diagnosed with Lung Cancer last week after receiving results from a CT-Scan, she went in the following day and had 5 samples taken from a biopsy to determine the type, stage and treatment options. However she had a call yesterday saying that the biopsy was inconclusive. Obviously she had many questions (is this good/bad, does this mean no cancer found, how can that happen with 5 different samples, what's next etc etc) but unfortunately the nurse couldn't answer any of them for definite ad said she would have to speak with the consultant (I feel like he should have been the one to ring in the first place as people are obviously going to have questions).

Anyway she's now been told she will need another scan and biopsy at a different hospital but they couldn't say how long that would take which is concerning as obviously in these situations time is of the essence but they didn't seem to be making an effort to speed things along. 

Has anyone experienced this or something similar, out emotions are all over the place and now we don't know how to feel at all.

Thanks in advance

  • Hi Ryan,

    A very warm welcome to our forum, although I'm sorry to hear why you are here. 

    Waiting for biopsy results is always a worrying time and all the more so when the results are inconclusive. I am not a doctor, but I suspect that the 5 biopsies may have been taken from different parts of your mother's lung and not from the one area. This is probably why it needs to be re-done. I agree that it would have been more helpful if the consultant had phoned her, as he would have been able to answer some of your questions. Why don't you get together with your mother and draw up a list of questions, then phone your nurse and ask for answers? She may still not be able to give you these, but she could always ask the consultant. He should then either phone your mother himself or make another appointment to reply to her in person.

    It is not unusual for a biopsy result to be inconclusive. There may have been something on the CT scan which made the consultant feel that this was cancer, but the results haven't corroborated this. Sometimes an experienced consultant may just have a gut feeling that this is incorrect and will carry out more tests, just to be certain. I appreciate that this extends your wait and adds to the anxiety, but it is better to ensure that nothing is overlooked in the long term.

    I sincerely hope that the new tests come through soon. Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for both of you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine