Physical Exam

Key Information

Obvious lesions on the skin or mucosa; ulceration; size and location (especially if tumor crosses midline) of primary tumor(s); swelling; location of any masses or enlarged organs (organomegaly; hepatomegaly; splenomegaly); fixation of mass; invasion/erosion of bone; mobility of vocal cords (hoarseness); laterality, size and number of palpable lymph nodes, especially cervical or supraclavicular; evaluation of cranial nerves (for nasopharyngeal lesions), facial nerves (for salivary gland tumors)

Go to the Physical Exam page of the Diagnostic Tests for more information.

Suggested Citation

SEER Training Modules: Physical Exam. U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Cited 02 January 2026. Available from: https://training.seer.cancer.gov.