Could this be cancer or arthritis? 1" lump inside above left elbow swollen and tender, entire elbow slightly swollen. also wrist and left thumb joint. avid golfer......

If : If you are an avid golfer the first thing that that comes to mind is an injury due to the sport , although unusual that the whole arm is involved , and is very difficult to give an opinion with out seen the lump or the swelling , since these are objective findings , that are important to evaluate and observe by the same person that gives the answer .A pulled or thorn tendon , proximal to the elbow or an olecranon bursitis and an associate lesion by the same mechanis in the wrist and theleft thumb may be a consideration and should be defined by physical exam and the exact details of how this two lesions apeared , and the correlation they may have with golf.To consider cancer or athrtis , a more systemic , meaning the rest of the body , involvent should be present with fatigue , weight loss etc etc at any rate , you need an evaluation by an orthopedic or a sports doctor first . Crystal arthrtis could do this if the elbow lesion is an inflamation of the elbow , but you ought to know at least that you have gout , it would be unusual three site location for a first episode.

Agree with Dr. S: Arthritis is a far more likely explanation than cancer. It is likely to be bursitis, give it rest and take acetaminophen for pain, no more than 4 gm/day.