Mom- 7 months Post, PET/Biopsy

College
College Member Posts: 5
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Hello Everyone, 

 

I posted a little while back talking about my Mom. She had Stage III T3N1MO, Laryngeal Cancer, hpv +. She received chemo and radiation for 7 weeks and finished in February 2017. She had her first PET/CT in May 2017, and that came back encouraging, significantly decreased uptake. She had another PET/CT a couple weeks ago, Sept 2017. It showed slightly more uptake than the one in May, not nearly as what it had before she underwent treatment, so they decided to do a biopsy just to be sure. The biopsy was really risky because her airway is so narrow still that they were worried going in would cause things to get inflammed and they would have to put in a tracheostomy for her to breathe. This didn't end up happening, we have an amazing ENT, and the biopsy results came back NEGATIVE for cancer. I want to be happy, this is the best possible outcome, but the Dr. did say that sometimes cancer can be lurking for a while before a biopsy will be able to detect it. She is going to have another PET/CT in 3 months. Thankfully, all the PET/CTs have showed that there is no cancer in her lungs or lymph nodes. It's just really hard to live life in 3 month increments, always worried that in another three months they will find a recurrence, especially with this not-so good PET/CT. I was wondering if anyone else has gone through a similar situation with PET/CT's or biopsies? What could be causing the increased uptake other than cancer? How accurate are biopsies? Questions I'll be asking the DR.'s soon, but wanted to get some advice from here as well. 

 

Thanks so much, and I wish everyone the best in there fights as well

 

 

Comments

  • MarineE5
    MarineE5 Member Posts: 1,034 Member
    edited October 2017 #2
    Scans vary

    College,

    I am sorry you are here seeking answers to your questions, but this is a good site to find those answers. My information is going to be a bit old in relationship how things are done today or maybe not. When I finished treatments, my Surgeon and Radiation Oncologist (RO) basically had me doing the 3 month Scans to make sure everything was going as planned. After I reached the 1 year mark, I still got the Scans, but I think I went out to a scan at 6 months each time, then once a year until I got to the 5 year mark.

    I'm sure they are just keeping a watchful eye on your Mom and stop any issues if any arise. You are correct, it seems as soon as we get over one scan anxiety we are headed for another one. This will pass as time goes by.

    My Best to You, Your Mom, and Everyone Here

  • bebo12249
    bebo12249 Member Posts: 181 Member
    #3
    Almost all diagnostic tests

    Almost all diagnostic tests can yield a positive result that is falsely positive. That is, the positive test result is wrong. (Or a negative result is wrong, it should have been positive.) The causes of a falsely positive result vary by test but for a PET, for example, inflammation can cause an area to light up on the scan. And the accuracy of biopsies (and all other tests in general) depends on the disease, the type biopsy, the stage of the disease, etc. Talk to your doctor but remember: it's not cancer until they say it's cancer. Until then, take a deep breath and count your negative-test-result blessings.... bill. PS and ask other questions too if needed..

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