MRI/PET SCan question

mikew42
mikew42 Member Posts: 114 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I was diagnosed with Satge 4 in February of this year with a met to the liver (2 cm at that time). Started chemo in late March. An MRI in early May showed a 50% reduction in met size. MRI in July showed no change. PET scan late August showed no metabolic uptake and Onc. says I'm in remission. However I had another MRI last week and it still shows no difference. They still see the 1 cm growth. Can what they see be something other than cancer, or could it be dead cancer or scar tissue? I have an appointment with my onc. tomorrow, but would like to get your opinions first. Also, onc. wants to be as aggressive as possible and go in and take out whatever this is. Thanks for replys in advance. I may not post much, but do read everyday and have all of you in my prayers. Mike

Comments

  • Mike, I am by no means an expert but I do know that the best shot at cure is surgery so......if your onc is aggressive and wants to go in there a remove it and it can be removed, my two cents worth is go for it. I am happy to hear that your response to chemo has been so good and will keep you in my prayers for continued good news.

    Monika
  • Galliano
    Galliano Member Posts: 46
    I have great faith in pet scan. I had a pet scan show a met to the liver 18 months before anything else picked it up. I had 3 cat scans and 2 mri's also lab surgery to take a look inside and none of these showed anything in all this time. I think you can feel good if pet picked up nothing. The 1 cm they see could be the bodies attempt to seal off the tumor from the rest of the body. If your cea level is low and has not increased you are probably in good shape.
    I'm all for being aggressive. If it hadn't been for the fact that my cea level was going up every 6 weeks they wouldn't have done all the other test to try and locate the tumor, which when they finally saw it was exactly where pet scan said it was 18 months earlier.
    Best of luck to you
    Mike
  • loiselizabeth
    loiselizabeth Member Posts: 4
    mike i beleive in the pet scan.it shows where there is cancer. mri will just show mass not what it is. be positive, i was given 3 months a yr ago last june with colon cancer that moved to my liver. i had rfa in dec 03 and now i am hopfully cancer free. good luck mike my prayers are with you