Hello everyone, Well I'm 4 mos.post Tx, and had my appt. with my RO. (he specializes in head and neck cancer). He read me the results of my scans. CT scan was all clear!!! The tumor is gone, and no signs of cancer cells in the head and neck region. PET scan also showed no activity in that area, but...(I hate to even write this) there was a 7mm light up on my right lung. It could be nothing he said, or an infection I could of had. Anyway, he scheduled me to see a thoracic surgeon to check it out, and probably schedule another pet scan in 3 mos. I have been really positive, and still trying to be. Like he said it may be nothing, and if it is hopefully it's small enough to get rid of. I am fully aware that this dreaded disease can travel to the lung. So I am concerned. I'm going to the Hillmen Cancer Center in Pitts.,PA. to see the thoracic MD. But, hey, it was still great news that the tumor is gone on the base of tongue!! I fought that battle, and feel I won that one!!! Take care and thanks for listening.

I have had two PET/CT's that have been false positive for areas of my lung. This is pretty common as infections cause the same indication. In both cases doc's orderd another CT scan in about 3 weeks which were OK.Much has been documented on this site about the good and bad aspects of PET/CT scans. Good luck and do your best to get used to the Yo YO life of cancer even after successful treatment.

Good to hear the all clear as far as your BOT. Sorry you are now worried about your lung. I'll pray for negative results when you get checked out in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is my home town, are you from there too or just going there for treatment.

This is not uncommon -- in fact, at Hopkins the radiologist specifically noted that some activity in my husband's right lung, seen on his 3-month PET/CT, was due to residual inflammation from an aspiration pneumonia he had right at the end of treatment. The radiologist there is an expert in head/neck and brain PET/CTS, sees 100s of them, and says he is "pretty good" at eliminating false positives due to infection, inflammation or healing. Whereas a radiologist who only sees a few HNC PETs a year will be more cautious.

Anyway, Barry's RO had him have a chest xray as a baseline and then prescribed a course of antibiotics to clear up this lingering infection. A follow-up xray in a month showed no problem anymore, nor did his 6-month PET/CT.

Although mets to lungs do occur, the chance of this being an infection is pretty high. You may wish to ask about antibiotic course and follow-up xray as a first step...

Gail

I just got my follow-up scans done yesterday, and the results were ALL CLEAR!! except for some "increased uptake" in my nose, which the radiologist said was likely inflammation, which he sees often at this time of year. My surgeon has concurred. Be comforted by the probability that it is exactly what they say...inflammation. They see lots of this, and they know what they are talking about. (Still, I sympathize with your concern....While you are rejoicing over the big stuff, it would be nice not to have this one last thing to niggle at you. I feel the same way.)

sorry....clicked twice!

When they reviewed the results of my 1st post Tx Cat (Halloween day) they also told me I was all clear but the RO did mention a very small dot in the upper part of my lung. He said no big deal, nothing to worry about. I thought to myself, why did he mention it then?

We next saw my MO and asked him (he is also a lung specialist). He pulled up my pre Tx Cat and my post Tx Cat scans side by side on his computer. While we were looking on he found the post Tx dot and also displayed the same area on the pre Tx Cat which didn't have the dot. When I say dot it was more like a grain of pepper on the screen. I don't know what size it was. Anyway, he also said things like this are very common after rad Tx. Sensing our concern (imagine that) he scheduled another Cat, this time of the chest, for Feb. He said it was useless to do it before then and again told us not to worry as it was most likely nothing. That falls under the category of "easy for him to say".

We next saw the Chief Head & Neck Surgeon at Moffitt who had found my primary. He also agreed with the other 2 so we reluctantly agreed to wait. No one mentioned infection as a possible explanation for the dot and I had almost forgotten about the Feb appt until your post so let me know what happens to you.

Thank you all so much for the replys. Like I've said before I am so overwhelmed by your help and concern. It's a relief to know this happens often, and could turn out to be nothing. It didn't show up on the CT scan, it just lit up on the Pet.(which I know can catch smaller things).
David, I didn't mean to remind you of your appt. in Feb., but thanks for sharing.
Tim (Stoj), I live 60 miles south of Pittsburgh. Been here all my life!
Thanks for the advice about antibiotics, and I do have a chest x-ray scheduled before my appt. with the thoracic doc. Geez, thought I had enough doctors to deal with!! And Len said it all about the YO YO life. You know the worst part about that is having my family have to live it also. Me, I can handle it, I just can't handle seeing them have to go through the ups and downs. I am in awe of all you care takers and loved ones. I know I'm blessed with the family and friends that I have. Have a great day!

I also had something on the upper lobe of my right lung 'light up' in the PET/CT just prior to beginning treatment. My RO was sure it was early lung cancer and scheduled me for a needle biopsy (lung puncture through the chest). Two weeks later when they did the contrast CT preparing for the lung puncture, it was gone! There was nothing to biopsy. It was some sort of 'inflammatory' process. Not everything that 'lights up' is cancer.

Mike had a "spot" show on the upper right lobe of his lung before treatment started. It showed on the CT scan but did not show on the PET scan. At that time the RO said it was probably nothing, we would look at it again after treatment. So here we are 10 weeks post Tx. The CT and PET scans were repeated 2 days ago, and we visited the RO yesterday. Good news, no spots anywhere! Then the RO goes on to say that the missing spot is like a double edge sword. Could be that the original CT scan was a false reading, or, could be that the chemo got rid of the spot!
Either way, he was pronounced in full remission!
We had visited earlier in the day with the ENT yesterday as well. He said there was no sign of any remaining cancer.
After reading this thread, it certainly seems like the scans and dots & spots cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
In the meantime, I'll be hoping for the best linroth and David.
Ginny (Mike's wife)