size of spot on lung (Page 1)

Non-small lung cancers are the most common lung cancers, accounting for about 80% of all lung cancers, and they are present and growing for years before being found.
Small cells LC comprise about 20% of lung cancers and are the most aggressive and rapidly growing of all lung cancers and they are most often discovered after they have spread extensively.
CT scan of the chest may be ordered when x-rays are negative or do not yield sufficient information about the extent or location of a suspected tumor.

Is your mum a smoker?
What kind of symptoms she has?
Was this found accidentally?

Thank you for your reply.

YES she smoked. She stopped four years ago.
No, it was not an accident. She has been coughing on and off for a bit now.And she is VERY VERY STUBBORN.After yrs of screaming to go too the doc, she has. Now her voice goes in and out.So I think she realized, it was serious.
They did a chest xray. it showed the spot on her right lung.
They ordered a CAT scan, which she just had.

The next step, if cancer, normally, would be to pull cell out of the spot? How long of a process is this before they start to treat it? I just want it out of her...

Ct scan is more sensitive than standard chest x-rays in the detection of lung tumors.
If Ct scans show lung cancer, next examinations depends on location of cancer.
If the cancer is in the central areas of the lung or arising from the larger airways, a bronchoscopy can be performed (visualizing the airways through a thin probe inserted in a tube through the nose or mouth, that helps tumor to be visualized and adequately sampled).
Fine needle aspiration or needle biopsy, is particularly useful when the lung tumor is peripherally located in the lung and not accessible to sampling by bronchoscopy.

Is she becoming short of breath very easily?
Does she experience an ache or pain when breathing or coughing?
Is she coughing sputum with blood?

Thank you for your information.

NO she has no shortness of breath.
If she has ache of pain while coughing she has not told us.
And no they is no blood in her sputum.

The results came in today,and they are going to do a biopsy of the..whatever it is.

At what point are they 100% postive it is a cancer and not some abnormality,scar tissue..ect.. ect....? AFTER a biopsy they say yes or no to cancer?
And it had not spread to any other portions of the body the scan showed.
It is in the upper right portion of the right lung.

Shamrocks my Mum to is going through same thing, she will have results back on Tuesday with what we as the family has been told is a' shadow on the lung, im wondering if its the same thing just different wording, mum is in u.k . she is diebetic and has not smoked in 15 years now, until finding out about this forum and how wonderfully helpfull and supportive people are, we as a family of brothers and sisters are afraid to talk to each other on what we think a shadow on the lung means cancer. we are worried about our mum too , so we wish you Mum good luck with Bio and its hard what your going through,

Hello MandMs,
my mum seems to be going through same thing as shamrocks mum so i hope you dont mind me butting in, but i wanted to mention to you that the shadow on my mums lung was found by accident, i think that its the same as a spot or is there a difference! My Mum is diebetic and a few months ago had some toes removed, so she is in and out of hospital all the time with minor infections, So this shadow has been found amongst 'checking her out per say'we all think its Cancer' though we are speaking about it very quietly amongst ourselves we the family bro/sisters are scared of the thought of maybe losing our mum, so we are talking of my mums illness' but not actually mentioning Cancer; But my mum is adament that whatever her results will be next Tuesday, that there is no way is she having any operation, she seems to think if its Cancer the slightest incision on her body will casue it to spread more rapidly and shorten her life less, than if they just left it alone, my question is she right saying this and are we all presuming the worse, is there a cure or do it really spread 'if it is a cancer.
thank you . pardon my spelling !!!!!

Fairysue..we could be the same person! My sis and I talk about it,but we are carfeul not to mention the C word around my Mom.I am sure she has the thoughts herself.
SO Tue is our day as well.She has a pre op thing with the hospital and then a reg doc appoitnment.And then the biopsy on Wed.So i guess Wed is the day then. I just hope they tell right away what the results are with the biopsy and not make us wait through a long Holiday weekend.

You are welcome!
While performing needle biopsy, cells are suctioned into the syringe and are examined under the microscope for tumor cells. This procedure is generally accurate when the tissue from the affected area is adequately sampled, but in some cases, adjacent or uninvolved areas of the lung may be mistakenly sampled (a biopsy sample that is too small for a diagnosis can affect the accuracy of the results and if needle biopsy collects tissue from a small area there is a chance that a cancer may be missed.)
Biopsy can be done like open biopsy and Video-assisted thorascopic surgery, too.
Lung biopsy results are usually available in 2 to 4 working days. If lung cancer is present, results of the biopsy can determine treatment options (surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy).

Thinking of you and your mum for today's and tomorrow's examinations!
Marija

They found a "small" spot on my left lung near my 5th rib. I have to go for a CT Scan but I have talked to several health care professionals and they urged me NOT to let them biopsy the spot. They explained that the process of the biopsy could spread the cancer (if it is) into the bloodstream from a microscopic piece coming loose from the biopsy and spreading to another part of the body. They told me to just have them remove all of the spot.

Abnormal areas within the lung that are more dense than healthy lung tissue stand out as paler than the surrounding tissue on the x-ray picture. They are sometimes referred to as shadows. The shape and appearance of the shadow are important informations for doctor to suspect certain diagnosis. Lung cancer is usually suspected when a chest X-ray shows a shadow on the lung (some lung infections can be seen as a shadow, too) and further investigations are performed to confirm or exclude the suspected cancer.
What kind of symptoms is your mum experiencing?

Waiting for informations for today's appointment!
Best wishes to you and your mum!
Marija

I have news, and it's not good. And I don't understand any of it to be honest.

Maija-- perhaps you can shed light on this information. It's choppy because I was writting it down .And I am out of state from my family, so all this was told over the phone.

1.the report states
the right parathratheal mass which simulates into the mediastin and extands into something..

2.the aorta and inferiorly to the right hilum to wrap around and narrow the right pulimanry artory ( is this that it is wrapped around the heart?)

there are three masses,not one as thought.

one is 2.7 by 3 cen
2. is five cm ( thats the big one inoperable because of its location the doc said)
3.and the other is just 1 cen.

The GP doc. recomened we find an oncologist ASAP.We are looking at the Moffit center in FL. (anyone here from FL? use this location? know of any doc?)

Also he said to prepare for radiation and chemo. Other then that she was healthy. Nice huh?
My Mom still has the biospy on Wed.I guess this will determine which type of cancer it is?and how to treat it?

It's all too much right now to sink in...but its comforting to know I have this little place to turn to.

Fairysue, I pray your family gets more positve results.

I'm very sorry!
The informations you wrote, miss something to be more precious.
But, I'll try to clear it as I can.
Mediastinum is a area of the thorax that lies between the lungs and here are situated all organs of chest cavity (the heart, the aorta, the thymus gland, the chest portion of the trachea, the esophagus, lymph nodes and important nerves.)
The right parathratheal mass...probably, is considered for group of lymph nodes around the point where the windpipe branches into the left and right bronchi, lymph nodes affected by cancer cells.
Right hilum is entering of lung where bronchi and blood vessels enter the lung and here are located lymph nodes that can have metastasis.
Nodes lying anterior and lateral to the ascending aorta and the aortic arch (parts of aorta located in mediastinum) are known as para-aortic lymph nodes and the cancer cells can spread to them causing their enlargement.

Don't take this as a definitive explanation. I'm just talking about possible meaning of your words.
Thinking of you!
Marija

Well we have an offical name of said cancer...drum roll please << yes ladies I am looking to find the humor in this>>>
Adenocarcinoma.And it is a NSLC. But at a very late stage to where it has hit the lymph nodes, as you confirmed in the explanation.

She sees an ocologist on the 3rd of April. More tests..one for the lung and bone scan to see if it's in the bones.And all this time to just grows and grows..

I see my Mom struggling to accept this fate.We are holding back information,such as he told me 6-12 months of life left at this point.HOW do you tell your Mom that?

THANK YOU Marija for your information. you are a cyber blessing.

Thank you Shamrock,for talking it out you put a lot of insite on my Husbands sittuation .I now know what may be ahead of him. 4/20/2012 Eskie

I'm really, really sorry for your mum! (You are welcome always and I'm praying for blessings for you, your mum and your family!)

Lung cancers, usually, don't manifest with symptoms till more advanced stage. That's why their prognosis is worse than other cancer diseases.
Most cases of adenocarcinoma are associated with smoking.

Did the doctors make lung cancer staging or they'll make an assessment of the degree of spread of the cancer from its original source, after having results from the bone scan?

my mother was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer 8 years ago. Because it was such a low stage, she had radiation done only. She has been cancer free ever since. A couple of years ago, she experienced pain on the right side of her rib. She had a cat scan done and 2 pet scans and a chest x-ray. All showed nothing. The doctors said maybe it could have been radiational scarring, but in any case, the pain went away. Last week, she had her annual oncology appt. and just as a follow up, they took another chest x-ray. The doctor said that he found a spot on the right side of her lung and that he wants to set up a cat scan and pet scan. My mother is 67 years old, has never smoked or drank. She has no other symptoms. My question is could it be possible its not cancer? We are all worried sick over this. Please help.

Chris

my 16 year old daughter has been sick with a cough for about 3 weeks and right side pain i took her to the doctors ,then to the er well the did a ct and saw a spot on her right lung she has never smoke now she does have an infection in here ovary , but that is how they foung the spot waht could this be and can you get infections in the lungs that show up as a 5mm spot?

worried

So I had a hernia surgery just over a year ago and I have been having some tenderness in the area so the Dr. ordered a CT-Scan. Dr gave me the good news the hernia repair is OK just a little Scar tissue. But the CT-Scan they performed on my abdomen showed a spot on my Left hand lower lung. I went back and had a CT-Scan of my Chest and they see 2 spots on my Left lower lung 1) .5 cm and 1 about 3/4" according to my Dr. I go it tomorrow for a Pet-Scan which I guess helps them tell if it is cancerous or not?? I'm only 35 years old pretty good health record have never touched a cigarette and currently have no symptoms. The Dr looked at a Chest XRay I had performed 2 years ago and no spots were on the Xray. I'm extremely nervous Bad stuff is not supposed to happen to me right?? Most of all I'm scared of the worst and I'm happily married with 5 kids under the age of 10. Thanks for any support in advance I'm glad to of found this forum to talk to people that are dealing with the same things. Good luck to all!

he has colon cancer diagnosed in July, been doing chemo and xeloda. During a recent abdomen cat scan noticed a small spot on lung. Had lung CT done, very smaller, smaller then pencil eraser. Went for Lung Biopsy today. Radiologist decided not to do too small, and is moving when he did his breathing?
What does this mean....? Going to re-evaluate in 3 months to see if its grown! If anyone knows about the movement of the spot, I'd appreciate any help in understanding this.


Thanks,
Tina

I am going through a similar situation with my equally stubborn mother....My thoughts are with you... Have you found the forum to be helpful in dealing with these isssues when you can't talk to your Mom about things??

hi, i have just been told that i have got a small spot on my lung, i have been suffering with a lot of chest infections, so my doctor sent me for a cat scan,which showed this spot, have seen a consultant he has said that they can not do a biopsy as it is to small, but said that there was 2 choices for me even though they are not sure what it is, 1, they can monitor it over 3 monthly periods, or 2, i can have this part of the lung removed, i am really confused and worried, as does this mean that if a spot is found that it is definately cancer,i would love some more advise as i know you cant say what it, but is it likely, to be that. thelma