Lung Nodule
Hi,
I would really appreciate any advice from others who have had similar experiences. I went to the ER on Friday with chest pain. They did a CT scan to check if I had a pulmonary embolism. I did not have an embolism, but they did find a nodule. What it said was
"Small juxtacardiac nodular opacity measuring approximately 4-5 mm (image 100/160)."
From what I can find, single nodules have a fairly low likelihood of being cancer, but that is in the average patient. I would think that they would be more likely to be cancer in a breast cancer patient. I was diagnosed in December 2017 with Luminal B breast cancer. I finished chemo in April and radiation in June. I have been doing well, but this has really thrown me. It also seems that they just wait and see what happens in six months. I don't know how I can get through the next six months, as I am really feeling panicky.
Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how was it handled. Thank you for your help.
Amy
Comments
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These occur fairly frequently, often as a leftover from a previous respiratory infection. Mine was followed up with a repeat scan in three months and was shown to be stable. If you talk to your oncologist, perhaps they will agree to an earlier check in order to relieve your anxiety. Is that also what caused your chest pain?
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Thank you for your response vinrph. I guess my concern is that it was not there when they did a CT scan in December 2017 at the time of my initial diagnosis, so it has shown up in the last year and a half, and I have not had any respiratory infections since then. The chest pain seems to be from costochondritis. That was radiation induced, so maybe the nodule could also be radiation induced. I really don't know.
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I had two faint nodules in my lung when diagnosed, but the doctors said they were tiny and very likely nothing. he estimated 70% of scans of cancer free people show a similar false nodule, and they never turn into anything.. they resolve on their own. Hopefully it's something transient and not serious.
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Thank you for the reassurance Santa Barbarian.
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I had a new lung nodule/opacity show up on CT right after radiation and the interpretation said “malignancy is unlikely but cannot be excluded” so my Dr did a repeat scan 3 months later to check on it. The area was then characterized as radiation fibrosis. It remains unchanged on my most recent scan of last week. I hope the same for you!
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Thank you! That is reassuring.
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I have two lung nodules, too, both around that same size. They were assumed to be benign and when I had a CT scan 3 years later they remained unchanged.
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Thanks SummerAngel. It is really helpful to hear from people who have been through this.
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I have 3. They're following the one that's 6mm, but I also have a 2mm and 3mm. I don't love that there are 3 unexplained things on my lungs (and I'm not really prone to major respiratory things, so can't think of what they'd be remnants of), but they're fairly chill about it since my nodes were negative. They were found in CT right after diagnosis. 3 month repeat was stable so now I do 6 months. My worry is, if they shrink at all now how do they know if they were nothing and went away or if they were cancerous and shrunk in response to the hormone therapy? But as everyone else has said, they seem to be a common finding and generally are no big deal.
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Well thank you. Hoping for stable CT scans for everyone.
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I know you posted this a few months ago but I just went through something similar. I had a nodule that had grown from my pre-chemo scan, to my scan done after my second chemo. I was sent to a thoracic surgeon for further investigation. He put me at ease at our first meeting, stating it was far more likely an infection than a metastasis but, to be certain he ordered a CT guided needle biopsy. I was gowned and all hooked up - IV in, oxygen mask on, finger pulse on, and blood pressure cuff on. They ran the CT and came back to say there was nothing to biopsy. Had a follow up with the surgeon, and he said that it was an infection that cleared itself up. I was completely asymptomatic. But he said that the chances that it was a metastasis were .0001%. Protocol dictates that I have another scan in 3 months but he was certain it was nothing to worry about.
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