Guest Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 My husband has an appt w/the medical oncologist tom. to discuss the results. But today the radiation onc. called to tell us he got a copy of the results. He said there is a slight uptake in the lung area where the tumor was/is but he felt the results were pretty good. But he also mentioned there was an uptake in the pelvic area which he said was probably an inflamation. I thought if any areas lit up it meant there were cancer cells. I know the radiated area of the lung can still light up even if there's no cancer. Can anyone shed any light? I know we'll find out more tomorrow but it's so hard to keep waiting. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 I believe the doctor has given you the correct possibilities. PET scan is not infallible for cancer -- other things can "light up". In mky wife's case, with bone mets, new bone growth can light up. Try not to worry ahead of time! Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 PET scans are around 90% correct. 10% or so of the time they will give false positives and false negatives. My mom had a few lymph nodes that were cancerous, they were not picked up by the PET scan. Others on this board have had uptake, but turned out to be nothing I read a study that a low uptake (SUV) is better than a higher uptake as far as prognosis John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DianeP Posted September 17, 2003 Share Posted September 17, 2003 "Slight uptake" means that the brightness (SUV) is showing positive, but could be caused by something else. For example, there was an area in my dad's scan in his lung that was showing a moderate SUV rating, and it happened to be just pneumonia that he had a 2 months ago. If the scan is reading activity on any bone, I would try to push the doctor in doing a bone scan. Better to be safe than sorry. Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Karen L Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 M husband's PET Scan over a year ago 7/02 lit up in his bones, adrenal gland, liver and lung. Alll biopsies neg. He's still doing fairly well over 15 mo later Only malignant pleural effusion and sheet of tumor in the pleura. Has pain but from nerve damage from the thorocoscopy a yr ago. Go to a pain clinic for possible nerve block. Navelbine 2 wks on and 1 wk off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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