I added this to a post in another section on this topic.

For those of you who are medical term impaired or confused:

A "positive" result in a biopsy (or any other medical test or scan result) means that you have tested positive (or have a highly suspicious area) for whatever they were testing or looking for, e.g. cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, etc.

Conversely a "negative" result means that you don't have what they were testing for.

So a false positive may result in additional and unwarranted testing and procedures. A false negative means the condition they are looking for is missed, when it is in fact, present.

These guys (the radiologists and ENT's) are usually smart enough to discern a false positive from an ROI (region of interest). For instance, they know that scar tissue can light up on a PET. They will typically order an in depth "visualization" of the area (which they are probably already doing.

Consider yourself fortunate that they are doing this - many of us can't get our HMO's to order a PET scan. I went to UCSFCCC and they only followup with annual MRI's and chect X-rays (which is great if I have a recurrence at the original site). A PET will show up distant metastesis before it's untreatable, such as liver or lung nodules. By the way PET/CT's are very accurate, if you can get one of those.

I hate to say it but "freak out, worry and despair" and part of the cancer game. That's why we call it the club that no one wants to join. It gets better though as time goes on.