I had a PET Scan done Friday and got the result today. My last radiation Tx was 1/14 so the scan was only 6.5 weeks after my last rad treatment.

There are some areas around the tumor and node sites that show activity. My RO does not think we have anything to worry about and we will monitor it very closely.

Anyone else have similar results?

Thanks,

Ray

Yes. All the time. Pet scans are very sensitive, and pick up all sorts of hypermetabolic activity, some physiologic, inflammation, from movement such as swallowing. The PET scan does seem early, but shown that it's 90 percent accurate by 8 weeks. Some doctors do scans 6-8 weeks for a number of reasons. Do you know the SUV for the highlighted areas.

If the doctor says to monitor, it sounds good.

I've heard of numerous false positives with PETs - will they do another in 6 weeks?

Why would they do a PET/CT so close out from treatment in the first instance?

The earliest most doc's recommend a PET/CT is 3 months from last treatment date and even then, some are reluctant because of the high false positive rates.

I wouldn't read into the scan results too much and make sure your ENT doc has a good look at it directly!

Some doctors believe it is beneficial to do a PET early, 6-8 weeks, instead of later, in case surgery is needed, and or additional chemo for unresponsive tumors, and to keep in line with a "total treatment package" time frame of 12 weeks or less, which is more optimal, than doing it later. They say by 8 weeks, a PET is 90 percent accurate. Less than 6 weeks is unacceptable. Three months is more optional, and at 4 months is even better, forgot the numbers.

I saw my MO this morning and the value he gave me was a 5. Does this make sense for the SUV? He is going to connect with my RO as he is a bit more concerned than my RO was.

The MO spoke about induction chemo with a 3 drug mix as a possible next step. I am very uneasy about all of this as I have just been through hell and left my wife to care for our newborn and a 2 year old while I recovered. The MO indicated induction chemo was pretty debilitating.

ENT appt is Wednesday, so he will give his 2cents then.

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

Ray

I would think "5" is referring to the SUV uptake. Anything above 2.5 is suspicious for cancer, but other things can cause this uptake too, like inflammation, necrotic tissue. I heard of Induction Chemo, IC, being given during or after treatment for unresponsive tumors, and is very effective. IC, is usually TPF, Taxotere, Cisplatin and 5-FU, or slight variations, with 3 five day cycles, three weeks apart. 5-FU is administered by continuous infusion for 4 days. The others are high dose infusions given on the first day, 2nd day. I had Induction chemo in 2009, only one week in the hospital, and It's effects were pretty harsh after discharge, actually beyond description, but others are not effected as much. I think I had the worst experience that I've heard of, but it did kill all my cancer, almost me too. I don't know what they plan after that, surgery? Maybe ask that, and about further diagnostic testing or biopsy to see if it is cancer they are dealing with. I think an MRI can show the difference between necrotic tissue or not.

I wouldn't get really worried if the location for the hot spot was near the primary location of the cancer. If it is somewhere else it needs to be identified as to what it is. Too many times these early PET's are just finding residual inflammation from the treatments and healing. I'm more than a decade out and I get hot PET's all the time, (every 3 years) around my body, none of them related to cancer� I can't count the number of people on this board that got high SUV with an early PET. The false positive rate with them is ridiculous. While I get some doctors desire to do them, many have suggested this is just a money maker for the institution.