Man’s Benign Tumor From a Strange Sore Turned Cancerous 4 Years Later: Report

A man discovered a strange sore on his tongue in 2015. He had it removed, and the biopsy concluded that it was benign, but it turned out malignant four years later.

Man's Benign Tumor Turned Cancerous

A global software services consultant named Ashwin Sabnekar told Newsweek that his issues began in 2014 when he first spotted a wound on his tongue. However, it wasn't until a year later that Becky, his wife, eventually convinced him to consent to have it examined by a doctor.

According to Sabnekar, he first noticed some white streaks on the side of his tongue. It was simply unpleasant to look at, but it wasn't bothersome in the traditional sense, so he just ignored it.

When he began to experience a little amount of pain now and again, his wife convinced him to seek the help of a professional. They went to an oral surgeon to have it examined in December 2015. He had a benign tumor, according to the results of the biopsy.

However, the wound hadn't healed four years later, so they decided to have it re-evaluated, and to their shock, the benign tumor had turned malignant.

The 50-year-old man from South Orange, New Jersey, was told he had head and neck cancer after his previously benign tumor turned aggressive.

While benign tumors typically pose no health risk and rarely progress to malignancy, some particular benign tumors, such as skin and colon cancers, have the potential to do so.

Sabnekar, who had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong from the inside out, has taken it upon himself to raise awareness and advise people with prospective cancer to trust their intuition and find answers to their health concerns, even if it involves seeing several doctors repeatedly.

It remains unclear if Sabnekar's initial biopsy result was incorrect or if his benign tumor may have developed into a malignant tumor. Despite being extremely exact, biopsies are not always 100% accurate in their ability to diagnose cancer. An inadequate biopsy result is typically assumed to happen in one to two percent of surgical pathology cases.

Sabnekar is already cancer-free after undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. He also went through physical and speech therapies after his surgeries.

He stressed that he wasn't blaming anyone and only wanted to raise awareness while encouraging others to be cautious by trusting their instinct and getting a second opinion.

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Can Benign Tumor Turn Malignant?

Typical benign tumors provide no threat. However, they can grow huge and pressure surrounding structures, resulting in discomfort or other health issues.

For instance, a sizable benign lung tumor could restrict the trachea and make breathing difficult. It would require immediate surgical removal. Once removed, benign tumors are not likely to come back. Uterine fibroids and cutaneous lipomas are typical instances of benign tumors, according to JAMA Oncology.

However, certain benign tumor varieties can develop into malignant tumors. These are closely watched and might need to be removed surgically.

For instance, colon polyps, another term for an abnormal clump of cells, are frequently surgically removed since they can potentially become cancerous.