2mm Lung Nodule found during CT on active surveillance

Bobbie51

helping my 80 yo mother out. I just noticed that a 2mm pulmonary nodule was found in her CT scan from march.

"Lungs: Unchanged 2 mm indeterminate pulmonary nodule in the right upper lobe (5:32). No consolidation. The airways are clear."

The word "unchanged" is a mistake as this is something new. (I checked the comparison CTs and there were no nodule findings on any of them. ) So basically this went unnoticed for 5 months.

Any ideas on what we should do. I have a call into her kidney doctor.

Bay Area Guy

Hi Bobbie. I think the only thing you can do is what you’ve done…..call the urologic oncologist. I was on active surveillance for 2-1/2 years before there was any growth in the lesion on my kidney.

AliceB1950

I've found that not everything gets mentioned on every CT. I've had things show up on the notes that were never listed on my previous scans in the last four years (about 9 scans), and some of them were abnormalities I've had since birth! So the radiologist was looking at your mother's previous scans themselves, not just the reports, for comparison. My oncologist has told me that most people have things in their lungs, especially as we get older, just from breathing for all those years.

Bobbie51

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1699340#Comment_1699340

I was thinking that might be the case so I looked at the actual comparison CT and MRI images used. These were abdomen scans so Im not sure they captured the upper lobe of her lung. But maybe they did. Doctor said it something to watch. She has an appointment in a few weeks so Ill get more info then

AliceB1950

I have lung nodules and I'm 72. So far, in four years of scans, they haven't grown. I had a little lung scarring after breast radiation four years ago, but that has improved to where it's barely there. The nodules I think of as barnacles, just crud that's accumulated over the decades. I don't know what kind of scan schedule I'll be on after next year, when I hit the 5 year mark out from my nephrectomy. It seems like some urologists stop imaging at that point, and others continue occasional scans. The oncologist I see is primarily because of the breast cancer (and she's the one who found the kidney cancer when I had a pre-lumpectony no-contrast chest scan), so she may want me to continue with scans - or my primary doctor may schedule them for another non-cancer condition that needs to be visually monitored. I'll never get used to farming out my body parts to different doctors!

Allochka

Yes, things “appear” and “disappear” on scans depending whether radiologist mentions them in description or not. One very experienced radiologist once told me that there is still no consensus among them whether they should list definitely benign things in description or should not. Of course they list everything clinically significant, but benign non-specific things can be omitted by some of them, because they mean nothing

Lisa 1102

I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2020 and a 2 mm lung nodule was found during my first CT scan. A second lung nodule was found in a follow up scan. My surgeon has been monitoring them and there has been no change in them in the last 2 years. I live near the Mississippi River and my primary care doctor told me that such nodules are common in people who live near rivers-fungi and mold cause them, he said. I don’t know your situation, but I hope this helps.