pet scans and ct scans

debcanmcg
debcanmcg Member Posts: 32
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
My husband has been taken off Oxplatin(?) and put on Irinotecan his ct scans show no change in liver lung mets but his cea's have gone sharply up to 435 he has been on the other chemo for 29? treatments and today the doctor's changed his drugs could not explain why cea is up so I ask why couldn't they do a PET scan they looked at me like I was crasy but after talking to them they said it was a good idea and ordered it for Monday. To me if you don't know why then run more test. I think they would have never brought the pet scan up since it must cost a lot and my husband is on medicade that is the only excuse I can think of. Also he is having a lot of kidney problems so they are now going to set him up an appointment with a urologist. Go figure! I have received a lot of information from reading things from others and if anyone knows anything else I need to be looking for or asking PLEASE let me know. Thanks

Comments

  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    #2
    Well, just so you know, I had a couple of "suspicious nodules" on my lung a couple of years ago which my oncologist thought were cancer. My CEA at that time was only 0.9...I had a PET scan done a couple of months later which showed no activity. These spots were 4mm and 6mm or somthing like that - very small.
    At the time (May) because my CEA was normal and my spots were not showing any activity they assumed they were granulomas (benign scar tissue). Then I went back for a checkup in August. My CEA was like 1.something (cannot remember) and the spots had doubled in size. Once again I had a PET scan which came back negative. It was not until October, when the lesions had reached 1cm in size that the PET came back positive and I had them resected immediately....So what I am trying to say is that if they cannot see anything on a CT scan it is unlikely that a PET scan will show anything either. A PET scan is like an overlay that goes over the CT scan. (like in GIS if you know what I mean). So, until something shows on the CT they would not normally do a PET. Also, any area of inflammation can show up on a PET and might cause unnecessary alarm...His CEA is really high, but that is probably due to his active cancer. Hopefully that might help you understand why they did not order a PET.
    I hope all turns out well for your husband. I never had Oxaliplatin, but I did have Irinotecan and did not have too much trouble with it....
    Good luck. I hope you find some answers, but sometimes you have to be patient because the answers are not immediately apparent....
    Take care,
    Susan.
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #3
    shmurciakova said:

    Well, just so you know, I had a couple of "suspicious nodules" on my lung a couple of years ago which my oncologist thought were cancer. My CEA at that time was only 0.9...I had a PET scan done a couple of months later which showed no activity. These spots were 4mm and 6mm or somthing like that - very small.
    At the time (May) because my CEA was normal and my spots were not showing any activity they assumed they were granulomas (benign scar tissue). Then I went back for a checkup in August. My CEA was like 1.something (cannot remember) and the spots had doubled in size. Once again I had a PET scan which came back negative. It was not until October, when the lesions had reached 1cm in size that the PET came back positive and I had them resected immediately....So what I am trying to say is that if they cannot see anything on a CT scan it is unlikely that a PET scan will show anything either. A PET scan is like an overlay that goes over the CT scan. (like in GIS if you know what I mean). So, until something shows on the CT they would not normally do a PET. Also, any area of inflammation can show up on a PET and might cause unnecessary alarm...His CEA is really high, but that is probably due to his active cancer. Hopefully that might help you understand why they did not order a PET.
    I hope all turns out well for your husband. I never had Oxaliplatin, but I did have Irinotecan and did not have too much trouble with it....
    Good luck. I hope you find some answers, but sometimes you have to be patient because the answers are not immediately apparent....
    Take care,
    Susan.

    Hi - Susan has a good point about PET. However, it is not always that clear cut. Often PET can locate cancer BEFORE it is large enough to see on CT or MRI. SO while Susan's experience is certainly valid, some reputable sources (e.g. Mayo Clinic) would claim that is not the norm and that in the more usual case PET scans can detect cancers before they show up anatomically (on CT, MRI etc.)

    I don't like to be so cynical, but I suspect that given your husband is a Medicaid patient, the cost of PET may well have been a factor. I wish you luck with upcoming scan and you should probably push for more scans in the future.

    Good luck.

    Betsy

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