Lymph node spread

[Hopeful51]

My husband was recently told he had a mass on lungs and so far we’ve had CT, MRI and are awaiting PET. Specialist nurse has told us CT showed no evidence of spread and I think she said that included no spread to lymph nodes, can CT confirm that or could PET still pick up spread to lymph nodes?

[Denzie]

Cancer can travel through the blood stream, by growing into an adjacent organ, or through the lymph system. The PET scan will show areas of suspicion. It cannot diagnose a suspicious spot as cancer.

Have they scheduled a biopsy yet? The biopsy is the only way to confirm cancer. With my moms lung cancer they looked for it elsewhere to find a less invasive way to biopsy.

[Hopeful51 in reply to Denzie]

Thanks, no they haven’t scheduled a biopsy yet - we were expecting that to be next step after CT but they wanted to do PET first. I guess we just have to wait like everyone else

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hello Hopeful51

A PET scan will show areas where there is active cell activity or increased metabolic rate, these types of scans are not diagnostic, they will show areas of concern that may need further investigation, such as biopsy. In cancer care a PET scan is used to help stage the cancer and, in some cases, to see how well you are responding to treatment. Below I have added a link to the NHS website with information on why PET scans are used.

nhs.uk/conditions/pet-scan/

You are welcome to contact us if you would like to discuss anything , either by email to ask the nurse at [e-mail] or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600.

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team