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Subcutaneous Mets question! Worried
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Subcutaneous Mets question! Worried

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Subcutaneous Mets question! Worried

  • Post
    • January 11, 2018 at 3:50 pm
    MichelleRHG
    Participant
      Has anyone had, or heard of, a subq met on the back of the hand? I have 2 small hard bumps. My primary and recurrence were on leg/groin. Thanks in advance for any insight. This worry had got to stop!
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    • Replies
        • January 11, 2018 at 9:04 pm
        WithinMySkin
        Participant

          Hi Michelle! 

          Sub Q mets tend to be mets that were caught in the lymph system on their way back to the heart. So I think it's less likely to be a met on your hand if your primary was on your leg. However, the hand is a very common place for benign cysts to form. Please do get it checked out, though!!

          Lauren

            • January 11, 2018 at 9:54 pm
            MichelleRHG
            Participant
              Thank you. I have a biopsy scheduled.
            • January 12, 2018 at 1:04 am
            cancersnewnormal
            Participant

              Definitely schedule a biopsy. SubQ's can be anywhere. I developed 2 in my right breast, and one on my back, just below the left scapula. My primary was top of right shoulder. No nodes involved. My subQ's didn't show up until I was already stage IV (brain and lungs) though… soooooo… it was pretty easy to know what was going on, even prior to removal and pathology. Get 'em checked! Better safe than sorry.

              • January 13, 2018 at 9:12 pm
              Christine.P
              Participant

                May I ask what therapy you are on? I am on Taf/Mek and have had several subcutaneous cysts form on all over. They are hard lumps that are sensitive to the touch. While my doctors suspected they were just cysts (since they were painful and cancerous tumors are not painful to the touch), they did a biopsy anyway to confirm. I started with them just on my legs, then the moved upward. I now have them on my arms, breast, legs, and the palm of my hand. This is an increasingly commonly reported side effect of Taf/Mek, but it is not yet really accounted for in the literature.

                  • January 14, 2018 at 7:12 pm
                  MichelleRHG
                  Participant
                    I am on Opdivo.
                    • January 22, 2018 at 3:53 pm
                    cancersnewnormal
                    Participant

                      All of my SubQ's came in post Yervoy… basically because the Ipi did little to no good for me. I was on MEK for a few months (research project, as I am not BRAF V600E or K), but the that actually cleared out the two that developed in the breast. The one on my back was surgically removed… used as a dish test for previously mentioned MEK research. I later had one develop on my left forearm. Keytruda wiped that one out, and I've not had any trouble since. 

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