Sunnymom3
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Posts:9
My mom is stage IV lung cancer for almost 6 years now. Lately she hasn't done as well and has had to switch drugs a few times. Lastest PET scan shows "hypo metabolic activity in left scaroiliac consistent with metatasis'. She has had on and off back pain for a few months now she kept attributing to over activity. Her oncologist says that this result is likely just inflamation and not cancer b/c she has back pain and pet scan shows all kinds of inflamtion. He is sending for an xray. I was wondering if it common for a pet scan to pick up simple inflamation ? Per the radiologist reading it they say its mets. I guess my question is whether it is correct that it is likely not the cancer.
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Reply # - March 19, 2013, 02:59 PM
Reply To: PET scan results question
Yes, a PET scan can pick up simple inflammation, and so it's not definitive to determine that a particular spot is cancer. As far as the radiologist's report, they tend to overcall at times, since often they are given only a previous scan and the information that there is a history of cancer. So if it looks like a bone met and it's a cancer patient, that's what they call it.
You can get some background on bone metastases in Dr. West's thorough introduction: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2007/02/17/bone-metastases-in-lung-cancer-a…
And you can read all about PET scans here: http://cancergrace.org/cancer-101/2010/09/14/cancer-101-faq-primer-on-p…
I hope your oncologist is right and that it is just inflammation. As you can see from the above posts, further scans such as X-ray or MRI may provide a better picture of what's going on.
JimC
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Reply # - March 19, 2013, 04:24 PM
Reply To: PET scan results question
I don't have anything to add to Jim's very good explanation. PET scan activity is notoriously non-specific, and it's not uncommon for there to be ambiguous findings in the bone or elsehwere that may need additional imaging, a biopsy, or some other intervention to help clarify what it represents. In fact, just today I had a patient undergo a hip MRI because the PET scan picked up some non-specific uptake that could be from benign musculoskeletal changes or possibly cancer. I suspect it's not cancer but haven't seen the result of the MRI yet. So yes, you can definitely get ambiguous results from a PET scan.
-Dr. West