PET/CT showed uptake in 1 inguinal node

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mkinoly
mkinoly Member Posts: 86
edited September 2017 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

Hi everyone

I finally had my first PET/CT scan since being diagnosed with stage 2A IDC over 2 years ago. Given all the symptoms I've been having the past couple months, I fully expected to have lots of areas light up on the scan. Turns out, thankfully, only 1 area had uptake--1 inguinal (groin) lymph node.

The radiologist's report says "faint uptake corresponding to a nonenlarged left inguinal lymph node, which may be reactive". I take that to mean that the node is normal size and may just be reacting to some kind of infection or other benign cause, or it could be something worse. I tried researching possible causes of a reactive node in that area, and nothing I found seemed to apply to me. I don't have and haven't had any infections or trauma to the areas involved with those lymph nodes. I suppose there could be something going on I'm unaware of.

I have an appointment with my oncologist to go over the scan results this coming Thursday. That seems like forever away to me because I have so many questions and I can't seem to find much useful information about possible scenarios that could cause this. If anyone is familiar with this kind of result from a PET/CT or just has any general input, could you please respond? Some questions I have are:

1. I thought PET/CT only see enlarged nodes because normal ones are too small. But this report said the affected node is not enlarged but did have uptake. I don't understand that, what could that mean?
2. If it's metastasis, wouldn't that be strange to have just 1 node and so far away from the original cancer? Or is that a normal possible occurrence?
3. If it's just a reactive node, what would it be reacting to since I am not experiencing any of the things I read about (such as infection, surgery, injury)? And it's not enlarged.
4. One lymph node? In either scenario (just reactive or metastasis) just 1 lymph node in the whole body?
5. I know it's possible to have a secondary cancer such as lymphoma. Is it likely the doctor will want to do a biopsy of this node?

Lots of questions, I know. Inquiring minds and all that.... Thanks for any responses.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited September 2017

    Hi mkinoly,

    We don't have any answers for you, but wanted to reach out to let you know we're here for you, sending our best, positive thoughts your way. Please keep us posted with what you find out and we're sure others will be by shortly to weigh in!

    Thinking of you!

    --The Mods

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  • ElaineTherese
    ElaineTherese Member Posts: 3,328
    edited September 2017

    mkinoly,

    I'm not an expert on mets and whether it is likely that the node in question is mets. However, I will say that PET scans pick up a lot of things that are not mets. I've had three PET scans, and they all picked up "something" on the left femoral neck (hip). However, that "something" was not picked up on a CT or MRI, so my oncologist considered it to be a false positive. We have no idea why "something" showed up on my left hip. It didn't hurt, and I couldn't think of any instance in which I'd injured it. Hope that it's nothing!

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited September 2017

    Lymph nodes can swell from a scratch, hang nail, bug bite, anything. My son has had 3 enlarged (very enlarged) lymph nodes in his groin for over a year. They have tested for tons of things and done a biopsy. They have come up empty. They think it is because he runs cross country and they may get irritated.

    Hoping a benign reason is found for yours too

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  • mkinoly
    mkinoly Member Posts: 86
    edited September 2017

    Thanks for the replies. In general, I don't have complete faith in scans, so I know it could be nothing at all. I'm still wondering about all the questions I have, though. I'm one of those "have to know" kind of people, unfortunately. The not understanding and not knowing gives me great anxiety.

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  • Outfield
    Outfield Member Posts: 1,109
    edited September 2017

    Hi mkinoly,

    The groin is a really common place to have reactive lymph nodes, maybe the most common. Normal crotches have a lot of bacteria, and the legs and feet are a really big surface with lots of opportunity for bumping and causing breaks in the skin. A hangnail could do it. I hope yours ends up being nothing.

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  • bevin
    bevin Member Posts: 1,902
    edited September 2017

    HI, was there an SUV of the node noted? The amount of the tracer it picked up is normally reported.  That is an important indicator. The higher the SUV the more worrisome the node.

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  • mkinoly
    mkinoly Member Posts: 86
    edited September 2017

    No, there was no SUV noted on the report I have. I'll ask my onc about it on Thursday.

    Part of my confusion is that it was noted that just 1 lymph node showed up, and that it was normal size, but it took up the tracer. Don't many lymph nodes react when there's an infection? And don't they enlarge? Maybe not. Ugh... I don't know...

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  • bevin
    bevin Member Posts: 1,902
    edited September 2017

    yes. Ask. SUV uptake is an important prognostic number for pet/ct scan. I believe anything over SUV of 3.o is worrisome. Definately get the full report a d ask doctor

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  • mkinoly
    mkinoly Member Posts: 86
    edited September 2017

    Well, my oncologist dismissed the node as nothing, so that's that. There was no SUV number which he thought meant the uptake was so faint it wasn't worth measuring so the radiologist didn't note it. Not sure what good scans and tests are if the results just get dismissed. Story of my life, really. Anyway, thanks to everyone that responded.

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  • bevin
    bevin Member Posts: 1,902
    edited September 2017

    I'm glad. that is good news. Hopefully you can sleep peacefully now. Glad the checked into everything for you.

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