Hi everyone, I'm currently starting my third week of RADs and chemo for BOT SCC. My initial Pet mentions a lung nodule which my doctors say they will worry about later. Here is the PET description, "Within the thorax there is physiologic tracer activity. There are no abnormal areas of hypermetabolic uptake. There is a 9mm non-calcified pulmonary nodule in the right upper lobe laterally, which does not demonstrate increased tracer activity. serial CT follow-up is recommended.

Physiological tracer activity is normal?

The fact that it does not demonstrate tracer activity is good news and that is why the doctors are not addressing it now or should I ask for a CT scan now?

I had lite flashes at Ohio State and was examined so many times in 2 days. Finally thry die the surgery and still checked my lungs and got ther flashes, It boiled down to false positives that we agreed to. Goods luck with all of this stuff Rick. You are going to come out a winner.

Damn, when will I learn to spell check? LOL

Pulmonary nodules are a common finding, particularly as you get older. I had one of those lung screening tests awhile back, that showed 3 small nodules. I had to have follow up CT exams @ 6, 12 and 24 months. No worries.

Your PET was likely a combination CT/PET, or they would have had difficulty determining size of the nodule, particularly at 9 mm. The fact that there was no uptake is the key.

They can check the nodules again, when they do your first post-treatment PET scan, which should be between 3 - 6 months after treatment. That is the best for these types of things, as if you had a CT alone, and it showed some growth, they would then send you for a PET anyway.

Good luck with the rest of the treatment, and don't sweat the nodules.

On my next PET I would want this nodule to remain the same size? If it got smaller then the cisplatin must be affecting it, right? If it got bigger then it would be cancer?

First of all, there are no definitives either way. Nodules can be lots of things. 2 of mine disappeared and 1 never changed, and it had nothing to do with the cancer treatments. Nodules can change in size a bit, or just be estimated slightly differently, depending upon the reading of the scans.

As long as the nodules don't light up or have SUV values at concerning levels on your PET, you are fine. If it turns out to be something to be concerned about, you have caught it early. As your doctors said, don't sweat it.