SCLC with Pulminary Embolism

[Ambenj]

My mother was diagnosed with Lung Cancer 1 year ago. The tumor and a lobe + some was removed.  Test results showed that it was limited stage SCLC. She decided not to do any treatment. A year later, she has had no recurrence but now has a Pulmonary Embolism.   From what I am reading, this has a connection to lung cancer and I am wondering if it could mean that the cancer is coming back? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

[Steff]

Hi there,

First and foremost, we are not doctors and I am not personally familiar with Pulmonary Embolisms, but have done a bit of research on them.  Blood clots can form for lots of reasons, the most common in PE being deep vein thrombosis.  Yes, cancer is a risk factor, but so is major surgery (lobectomy) and inactivity (I'm assuming your mom was less active than usual when she was recovering from surgery).  I don't know how long deep vein thrombosis takes to occur and don't know if your mom's lobectomy a year ago is too long ago to consider as a risk factor. 

Since you say she has had no recurrence, I am assuming she has had follow-up scans to keep an eye on things and verify nothing has come back?  Least of all I am also assuming that in identifying PE, she had at least 1 scan to identify it.  So, is there anything new showing up on those scans?  While it's very easy to blame every little thing on lung cancer ( I do it too with my mom), your mom's PE could be related to some other issue.  For questions like these, I always refer back to my mom's oncologist to get a definite answer.  They can probably tell you how common PE's are in lung cancer.

Take care,

Steff