P.E.T Scan results Need insight please!! - 1249381

Hello mommabanks,
Welcome to Grace.

I'm sorry youre going through such trying times. How odd that the doctor didn't explain anything to you except to say...stuff. Not at all very helpful. I suspect you know that hyper-metabolic activity can suggest cancer. I hope you know too that it could point to infection or inflammation. I wonder if your doctor mentioned these things.
It isn't possible for a doctor to read your report verbatim and know what it means. There is the matter of the person, the pictures, and history that need to go with it to complete the picture of what's going on.

I suspect you want to know something about the areas of hyper metabolic activity (aka uptake or suv #s).
Anything that is "incidental" isn't likely to be of importance...unless it's causing a lot of inflammation in your lymph system.

I'll contact a doctor to give input on those issues of uptake. You should get a response within the day.

I hope all is well and easily explained and cared for at your next appointment.
Janine
forum moderator

Please read this article from our FAQ library. It will help greatly in your understanding. http://cancergrace.org/cancer-101/2010/09/14/cancer-101-faq-primer-on-p…

Hi mommabanks,

Just to add to the excellent information and link Janine provided, the main thing to be aware of is that PET scans can light up for all kinds of reasons, often not cancer. The only procedure that can definitively determine whether cancer cells are present is one in which tissue is collected from the suspect areas and tested for cancer cells. And there are many examples here on this site in which members have posted similar questions and later found that there is no cancer present. That's not to say it isn't difficult to avoid thinking the worst...that is a common reaction. But please try not to assume it's cancer.

If you have any further questions, please post them as they come up, and don't hesitate to post just for support from the GRACE community.

JimC
Forum moderator

I think the key point is that infection or something like lymphoma (particularly Hodgkins lymphoma in a young person), or less commonly another cancer, could cause enlarged and hypermetabolic lymph nodes, but the only way to know what's going on is to get a biopsy. Until then, it's all guess work.

Good luck.

-Dr. West

Ruling out "things" is the way they get to a diagnosis. Even those of us that have been diagnosed with cancer have to go through all kinds of tests to get to the end result. But as Dr. West said, only a biopsy can tell for sure if it's cancer. Wishing you the best. Take care, Judy

PET works by seeing where sugar goes. As others have noted, things that take up sugar include infection, inflammation, and cancer. The ENT will examine you, review blood test results, and look at the actual images from the scans to determine the next step. Biopsy from the areas describe is typically easy with very low chances of complications or even major discomfort. You should be aware that even if cancer is found, that we cure cancer all the time. Given your age, the most likely cancer (if cancer is even present) would be lymphoma--most of the lymphomas rank up their with the easiest to cure cancers.

One technical point that you may wish to make sure that the ENT is aware of (some nonacademic surgeons might not be savvy to lymphoma) is that a test called "flow cytometry" is important to order on biopsies where lymphoma is being considered. It's a test that needs to be ordered on fresh tissue and pointing this out could potentially save you from needing a second biopsy. Please don't misinterpret my comment as in any way suggesting that you have lymphoma; that's not what I mean; rather, I mean to make you aware of this to avoid the possibility of having to get more than one biopsy.

As I am new here and following some of the questions, my husband just recently had his PET scan after very intensive treatment for a Pancoast Tumor, with Horner's syndrome- (poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma). His Pet scan showed the tumor has shrunk 1.5 cm in each directly and no signs of spread. HOWEVER- the CEA (tumor Marker) started in October at 26, then went up to 41.5, and then down to 29 same day as the PET Scan, but now 1 month later, the CEA blood lab- still showed the CEA level at 29, when if should be going down, and the normal range is 2.4.

Dr. West or Dr. Weiss- can you make sense of this??? I to, am trying to make sense of all of this wording in the report- and even after asking 10-20 times still did not get a solid answer of what stage this was in October, and what stage is it now. They did say it was isolated in apex of lung and did not show any spread to lymph nodes (which I read would then be stage I), but not sure.

LD

Hi LD, I think Dr. Creelen covered this in his post, CEA levels don't say anything about lung cancer.
I'm so sorry about what your husband is going through and hope he regains strength and energy.
Janine