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pink36

So I was diagnosed in May 2018 with Triple Positive Stage 4 de novo BC. Pet scan showed one axilla node, one pectoral node, one mediastinal node, the breast lump and a liver nodule. By the time I went in for a liver biopsy, the liver nodule no longer showed up. After I completed chemo, I had a CT scan. The liver nodule was still gone and the mediastinal node no longer showed up. However, the breast lump, axilla node and pectoral node were still showing up. All of them had shrank significantly. Friday I had a lumpectomy. The breast lump was removed and had clear margins. It showed "very little carcinoma". They took 7 lymph nodes. All were negative. My question is if the cancer was negative in the nodes, why was the axilla node still showing up on the CT scan? Another lady told me that if the cancer is gone in the nodes they shouldn't be showing up on the scans.

lkc

Congratulations on your great response to treatment.

Nodes are classified on CT scans as " pathological " or "non pathological based on size. If there is a small differential on the scan it is not considered diagnostic Laboratory findings always trump scans

SpecialK

Inflammation, or inflammatory process - such as irritation, degeneration, or healing - can be detected by PET/CT and result in uptake. I have had a number of notations and what would be considered "false positives" on PET/CT, that were normal healing processes post-surgically, disk degeneration, and widespread inflammatory cell change bi-laterally long after BMX. It is possible that you had uptake in the axilla due to the inflammatory effect of chemo on the axillary nodes. Happy to hear that the other aspects of your imaging and your path report was so good!

pink36

I didnt have a pet scan after chemo. It was a ct scan with contrast