Thank you for your question. There are many possible diagnosis for a lump on the neck and a visit to the doctor to have the lump examined would be important. If you had the lump examined by your doctor 3 years ago and was told that it is benign (non-cancerous) and your lump hasn't changed since your visit to the doctor, it is quite likely that your lump is indeed benign.
The types of conditions causing a lump on the neck depends on the location of the lump - ie on the skin, under the skin or in deeper structures in the neck (e.g. growths from muscles, nerves, blood vessels, lymph nodes, thyroid glands, salivary glands, food pipe, wind pipe etc). If your lump is on the skin, some of the warning signs that it may be cancererous include:
- Irregular borders/surface
- Asymmetrical in shape
- Presence of more than one colour on the lump (e.g. blue, black, brown etc)
- Change in colour and size
- Ulceration
- Bleeding
If your lump is under the skin (ie deeper in the neck), some warning signs include:
- Hard consistency
- Increasing in size
- Compression of surrounding structures (e.g. difficulty in swallowing or breathing)
- Associated loss of weight and appetite
Quite often when the lump is deeper than your skin, a fine needle aspiration and cytology (a test involving the insertion of a needle into the lump to extract some cells for testing) and some form of imaging (e.g. ultrasound or CT scan of the neck) may be required.
I would recommend having the lump reassessed by your doctor if you are worried.
Hope this helps and all the best!
