Michelle --

If you research my posts, you will find one in October of last year, after my first post-treatment PET scan. I could not wait for the doctor appointment, so went over to the medical center and got a copy myself.

I was devastated to read that there were 3 "hypermetabolic lymph nodes concerning for metastatic disease." I had begun treatment with 1 positive node that had been removed during my neck dissection.

I fretted and stewed for what seemed forever until I got to the doctor, who dismissed it as artifacts of treatment. The RO did the same thing, and the follow up PET showed that 2 of the nodes had dropped off the radar, and the third was at a lower SUV.

As Markus said, there are lots of things that can cause elevated SUV values in a PET scan, so much so that many doctors refuse to use them as any sort of gold standard for post-treatment follow up. Talk with the doctors, but there are tons of cases on the boards of false positives in the PET scans.


Jeff
SCC Right BOT Dx 3/28/2007
T2N2a M0G1,Stage IVa
Bilateral Neck Dissection 4/11/2007
39 x IMRT, 8 x Cisplatin Ended 7/11/07
Complete response to treatment so far!!