People may discover an abnormal lump (mass) in their neck. Sometimes, doctors discover a neck lump during an examination. Neck lumps may be painful or painless depending on what has caused them. Painless neck lumps may be present for a long time before people notice them.
Causes
Most neck lumps are enlarged lymph nodes. Sometimes, the lump is a congenital cyst, an enlarged salivary gland, or an enlarged thyroid gland.
Enlarged lymph nodes
The most common causes of enlarged lymph nodes among younger people include the following:
One or more neck lymph nodes often enlarge in response to an upper respiratory infection, throat infection, or dental infection. These nodes are soft, not tender, and typically return to normal shortly after the infection goes away.
Sometimes, bacteria can directly infect a lymph node (lymphadenitis). Such infected nodes are quite tender to the touch.
Certain systemic infections typically cause multiple lymph nodes to enlarge, including some in the neck. The most common of these infections are mononucleosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and tuberculosis.
A much less common but more serious cause of enlarged lymph nodes is
Cancerous neck lumps
Cancerous (malignant) neck lumps are more common among older people, but they may occur in younger people. A lump may be a cancer of a nearby structure, such as the mouth or throat, that has grown into the neck. Or, a lump may be a cancerous lymph node, which may occur when a cancer spreads (metastasizes) from a nearby structure or from more distant parts of the body, or when a cancer arises in the lymphatic system itself (lymphoma). Cancerous lumps are not painful or tender to the touch and often are rock-hard.
Other causes
Cysts are hollow, fluid-filled masses that are usually harmless unless they become infected. Some cysts in the neck are present from birth because of abnormalities that occurred during fetal development. Sometimes cysts develop in the skin (epidermoid cyst), including in the skin of the neck.
A salivary gland under the jaw (submandibular gland) can enlarge if it is blocked by a stone, becomes infected, or develops a cancer.
The thyroid gland, which is in the middle of the neck just above the breastbone, can enlarge. The most common type of enlargement is goiter, which is noncancerous (benign). Cancers and thyroid inflammation (thyroiditis) are less common.
Evaluation
The following information can help people decide whether a doctor’s evaluation is needed and help them know what to expect during the evaluation.
Warning signs
When to see a doctor
What the doctor does
Doctors ask questions about the person's symptoms and medical history and do a physical examination. What doctors find during the history and physical examination helps decide what, if any, tests need to be done.
During the medical history, doctors ask about the following:
During the physical examination, doctors focus on the ears, nose, and throat (including the tonsils, base of the tongue, and thyroid and salivary glands). They look for signs of infection or abnormal growths, including looking down the throat with a mirror or a thin flexible viewing tube (laryngoscopy). They also feel the neck lump or lumps to determine whether it is soft, rubbery or hard and whether or not it is tender.
Testing
If there is an obvious source of infection, such as a cold or a sore throat, or the person is young and healthy and has a tender lump present for only a few days, no tests are needed immediately. Such people are watched closely to see whether the lump goes away without treatment. If it does not go away, tests are needed.
Most other people should have a blood count and a chest x-ray. For younger people without risk factors for or findings that suggest cancer (such as mouth growths), doctors often take a tissue sample (biopsy). For older people, particularly those with warning signs or risk factors for cancer, doctors often do several tests to look for a source of cancer before doing a needle biopsy or excisional biopsy (remove entire lump for testing). Such tests often include blood tests and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck. Ultrasound is preferred for children to avoid radiation exposure and may be used in adults if doctors suspect a thyroid mass. Children, in whom lumps are caused most often by infection, are usually first given a trial of antibiotics.
To look for cancer originating in other parts of the body, doctors usually take x-rays of the upper digestive tract, do a thyroid scan, and do a CT scan of the chest. Direct examination of the larynx (laryngoscopy), lungs (bronchoscopy), and esophagus (esophagoscopy) and simultaneous biopsies may be needed.
Treatment
Doctors treat the cause of the neck mass.
When cancer cells are found in a lump or an enlarged lymph node in the neck and there are no signs of cancer anywhere else, the entire lump or lymph node containing the cancer cells is removed along with additional lymph nodes and fatty tissue within the neck. If the tumor is large enough, doctors may also remove the internal jugular vein, along with nearby muscles and nerves. Radiation therapy is often given as well.
