Have not been here for a while and had my 2 year out PET/CT last week. The good news was the H&N area was clean but they described in the report as having dependent changes noted in the posterior aspect of the lungs compared to a study one year ago. They go on to say that there is a mild focal increased uptake noted in the right base of the lung with maxium SUV of 2.4. The intensity of the uptake does not meet the PET criteria for malignancy, and in combination with the CT images, the findings are likely due to mild inflammatory changes.
My Doc's say lets just wait and see. I'm of course reading into the report and I'm not a wait and see type. I know there are a lot of strange things that show up in scans but I would appreciate any views or advice on my next step or any similiar experiences. This site is the best and I could not have made it this far without the caring and knowledgable people here.

Len,

I'm not sure what to tell you on this. 2.4 is a low uptake, but it can be evidence of a malignancy. I had a 2.6 and it was a new tumor. Here is what I would do, get the results reviewed by another radiologist and make sure they are experienced with PET scans. Normally, the CT scan will be the determining test and it appears that there is still some concern on your part. Get the film re-read and, if they agree, you have to do the wait and see approach. It is, unfortunately, SOP for some follow-up tests. Oh, what kind of inflammation would you have in the base of your lung? Did they say? I just have a small problem with changes from a prior PET scan.

Glenn

Len, You finished tx one month after I did. Sounds like we had the same treatment - no surgery. I had a ton of radiation and was told that the treatment might produce false positives in the future. This was meant to only include the rad site. Sorry to hear your concern, but I agree with Glen, get someone else to read that scan. Two and three opinions are NOT too many. It dents their pride a bit, but they can take it. Best of luck to you. Keep us informed. Email me directly if you are inspired to. Tom

Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up the films tomorrow and taking them to be reveiwed. I have asthma and get a lot of lung infections. I'm hoping that's whats going on.The original scans were done at Fox Chase here in Philadelphia who do them every day so I assume they know what there doing but your advise is well taken.Thanks.

Ask them for a CDROM or DVD copy of the scans instead. They would probably rather review them on an image processing workstation. The CCC where I had the RT done always asks for soft copies.

Update. Doc not happy with quality of CT part of PET/CT. Said very hard to read and really make a call. Ordered another CT scan to focus on area of concern.Mentioned that in his opinion John Hopkins provides the highest quality PET/CT and said go there next time.I will get new CT asap.

Much luck and best wishes coming your way Len.
Marica