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False positive PET scans
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Jun 21, 2012 - 8:59 pm
Well i had my 2nd post chemo PET scan today. My first post chemo PET scan was not so good with an SUV=8.9. I was obviously devastated by my last PET scan. My doctors told me it was probably inflammation and to retest in 2 months. I went to my Oncologist today and he told me my CANCER IS GONE!! SUV=0! I am living proof that if you do your PET scan too soon after chemo that you run the risk of false positives, even if the uptake is higher than a 3. I have always heard that an suv # above a 3 is highly suspicious of cancer. I hope that anybody who gets a positive PET scan post chemo can still have hope that it is a false positive and just inflammation or scar tissue. God is good! |
Joined: Mar 2012
Awesome and yes God is good. I needed this
Joined: Nov 2006
Great news!!!!!
Joined: Apr 2012
Chris,
So glad the Big C is gone, I'll pray for you that it never ever comes back.
Lance
Joined: Mar 2010
Cancer is gone. This news is so wonderful. It can't get better than that. Also,
thanks for the info on getting a scan so soon after chemo.
Yes, God is Good. Maggie
Joined: Nov 2011
First of all, praise God in heaven! As to the PET, clearly, it showed "something", but it was just not cancer - the increased uptake apparently being associated with inflammation or some other natural metabolic process. All scans, whether CT or PET, are simply images (however detailed) which are examined by a radiologist. But, they are only images, and not biopsies. The problem is that no actual living tissue was physically examined. Since you were already diagnosed with cancer, the radiologist suspected that what they saw might have been cancer. Problem is, they can't tell for sure from the image. And, radiologists tend to be a little on the alarmist side. They must point out every actual, and even even suspected abnormalities in the scan. Some abnormality that you might have been born with sets their alarm off, simply because they have never seen it before and other people don't have it. Even when my first post-chemo PET came back positive, doctor still had an excisional biopsy done, so that what appeared to be cancer in the PET image could be physically examined and either proved or disproved. Clearly, the problem in your case was that the PET was done too soon.
In their defense, I would say that, if your cancer was an aggressive variety, their concern was warranted. Sometimes, this just has to happen. In my case, it actually was the aggressive cancer which had immediately relapsed, and that is where divine providence entered in. But, that's another story.
No Evidence of Disease is every reason to get on those knees and give heartfelt thanks. God is good, indeed!