Kidney Tumor

Should be requested to make sure there are no bone mets.

val1963 said:

is this the same as a PET

is this the same as a PET scan and can I ask my family doctor to order this or do I need to ask the surgeon? Or do I need to find a surgeon that is more proactive because mine has scheduled surgery but no additinal tests?

They are two different kinds of scans.

A Full Body Nuclear Bone Scan is a nuclear imaging test that helps diagnose and track several types of bone disease using tiny amounts of radioactive materials called tracers (radionuclides). These tracers accumulate in certain organs and tissues, such as bones. Once introduced into the body, tracers emit a type of radiation called gamma waves, which are detected by a special camera. This camera produces images that are interpreted by the radiologists.  This test only looks at the skeleton.

PET scans, on the other hand, are designed to look at soft tissue and organs.

In a PET scan a radioactive medicine is first tagged to a natural chemical - usually glucose, water, or ammonia. This tagged natural chemical is known as a radiotracer. This radiotracer is then inserted into the body.

Inside the body the radiotracer then goes to those areas that normally utilize that natural chemical. For example, FDG (F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose - a radioactive drug) is first tagged to glucose to make it into a radiotracer. The glucose then goes to those parts of the body that use glucose primarily for energy. The FDG can reveal a tumor by revealing those areas that are soaking up abnormally high levels of glucose. Tumors soak up high levels of glucose because aerobic glycolysis (the metabolic process employed by most tumors - the fermentation of glucose) is a very inefficient source of energy as compared to oxidative phosphorylation (the metabolic process of every normal cell - the respiration of oxygen).

But there are some tumors that do not "run" on glucose for their fuel. For example, 80% of prostate cancers are not especially aggressive, nor are they avid for FDG (glucose). This is also true for most renal cell carcinomas.  They do not soak up large amounts of glucose even though they still do not run "normally" on oxidative phosphorylation.  Instead, these tumors get their primary energy from the fermentation of amino acids. In particular, they first choose the amino acid glutamine for their fuel. This process is known as anaplerosis.  Regardless, this is why a PET scan using glucose as its radiotracer is generally inappropriate when dealing with RCC.

val1963 said:

Thank you so much for the

Thank you so much for the feedback!    The MRI was done because I went to my family doc looking for answers regarding back pain, muscle spasms and numbness radiating down my left leg and foot.  He wanted to rule out disc problems.  Needless to say,  we took a wrong turn from  me thinking I would be starting physical therapy to hey, we want your kidney!    Yikes!!     Anyway, the docs don't think the sypmtoms are related but the reasons I went to the doc have been back burnered for a bit.      

Basically, if theres no indications of metastases, a CT of the abdomen and lungs should suffice. After surgery the histology will provide a lot better basis for decisions regarding further examinations.

/G

val1963 said:

WOW!   Thanks for the

WOW!   Thanks for the information/explanation Nano,  wish you were my in house advocate

I had my 3rd opinion on Friday and he said almost verbatim what the first doc said.   Surgery is June 5th.

Take care!   val

Happy to be of help whenever I can be Val.

No doubt you are likely worried about your upcoming surgery. But you are now amongst folks who have been through it all - and are here to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Hang in there.

Best wishes,

-NanoSecond (Neil)