My Lung Nodules
REGISTER
The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Content within the patient forum is user-generated and has not been reviewed by medical professionals. Other sections of the Melanoma Research Foundation website include information that has been reviewed by medical professionals as appropriate. All medical decisions should be made in consultation with your doctor or other qualified medical professional.

My Lung Nodules

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › My Lung Nodules

  • Post
    • June 11, 2011 at 10:00 pm
    Lisa13
    Participant

    Even though none of my lung nodules have been biopsied to confirm melanoma, is the fact that some of them have grown since April make it pretty clear?  The largest is 11mm and the smallest is 3mm.

    Even though none of my lung nodules have been biopsied to confirm melanoma, is the fact that some of them have grown since April make it pretty clear?  The largest is 11mm and the smallest is 3mm. The rest of them don't have measurements – just "tiny nodule" or "other nodules scattered within the right middle lobe do appear larger".  I guess what I"m getting at is even though I don't doubt this is melanoma, maybe not all 15 nodules are.  Once I get going on Decarbazine, I'll be scanned at 2 weeks and if not working, into IPI. 

    Lisa

     

Viewing 7 reply threads
  • Replies
      • June 11, 2011 at 11:58 pm
      dian in spokane
      Participant

      so… you are starting dicarbzine based on suspected lung mets with no other mets and no confirmation? Have they tried doing a bronchoscopy? discussed VATS? though if you have numerous tumors I doubt they'd recommend VATS.

      • June 11, 2011 at 11:58 pm
      dian in spokane
      Participant

      so… you are starting dicarbzine based on suspected lung mets with no other mets and no confirmation? Have they tried doing a bronchoscopy? discussed VATS? though if you have numerous tumors I doubt they'd recommend VATS.

      • June 12, 2011 at 1:37 am
      jag
      Participant

      I would request a PET/CT-that can be a more accurate picture of how active the nodules.  While not 100% specific, really high SUV indicators can be very convincing.  

       

      Regards

      John

      • June 12, 2011 at 1:37 am
      jag
      Participant

      I would request a PET/CT-that can be a more accurate picture of how active the nodules.  While not 100% specific, really high SUV indicators can be very convincing.  

       

      Regards

      John

      • June 12, 2011 at 1:40 am
      jag
      Participant
      • June 12, 2011 at 1:40 am
      jag
      Participant
      • June 12, 2011 at 3:02 am
      FormerCaregiver
      Participant

      According to your profile, the PET scan that you had in January was clear (apart from one
      lymph node). Your CT and MRI scans were clear at the time.

      Correct me if I have missed something, but let me recap what has been happening. You had
      a CT scan that detected very small nodules in May. Since then, another CT this month
      has confirmed that these have increased in size. Of course, there is no foolproof way of
      confirming that the nodules are melanoma without a biopsy. However, if you were to have a
      PET scan soon it might be able to show if these are likely to be cancerous or not.

      Unfortunately, things seem to be happening faster than one would expect. Therefore, it is
      really good that you are starting treatment soon.

      Best wishes

      Frank from Australia

        • June 12, 2011 at 11:42 am
        Lisa13
        Participant

        Hi Frank,

        Yes, the nodules were small at the end of April and now some of these have increased in size (all less than a cm, except one) which my onc. seems to think are growing slow based on the CT scans.  I told him that melanoma is nasty and he can't even predict what it's going to do, but he was confident based on the scans that they wern't growing fast.

        I'm very happy that I'm being treated quickly even if I have to serve my time with decarbazine. The good thing is, he's not going to wait 3 weeks to scan me to see if it's working, so we'll know in the next 3 weeks which is sooner than the last set of scans.  I'm hoping at that time, he'll give me a PET scan as I havn't had one since mid February.

        Decarbazine has been shown to be more effective on low bulk disease of the lungs, so we'll see.  I'd still prefer to travel to the States for IL-2, but time is of the essence to keep this disease from running away. 

        Lisa

        • June 15, 2011 at 7:35 am
        JerryfromFauq
        Participant

        Lisa, Good luck. 

        The earlier you start the treatment the better.  Decarbazine has done the job for some.  Just wish they knew in advance who is the most likekly to receive the benefit.  Yon just might be one  of them.  Keep us iinformed.

        • June 15, 2011 at 7:35 am
        JerryfromFauq
        Participant

        Lisa, Good luck. 

        The earlier you start the treatment the better.  Decarbazine has done the job for some.  Just wish they knew in advance who is the most likekly to receive the benefit.  Yon just might be one  of them.  Keep us iinformed.

        • June 12, 2011 at 11:42 am
        Lisa13
        Participant

        Hi Frank,

        Yes, the nodules were small at the end of April and now some of these have increased in size (all less than a cm, except one) which my onc. seems to think are growing slow based on the CT scans.  I told him that melanoma is nasty and he can't even predict what it's going to do, but he was confident based on the scans that they wern't growing fast.

        I'm very happy that I'm being treated quickly even if I have to serve my time with decarbazine. The good thing is, he's not going to wait 3 weeks to scan me to see if it's working, so we'll know in the next 3 weeks which is sooner than the last set of scans.  I'm hoping at that time, he'll give me a PET scan as I havn't had one since mid February.

        Decarbazine has been shown to be more effective on low bulk disease of the lungs, so we'll see.  I'd still prefer to travel to the States for IL-2, but time is of the essence to keep this disease from running away. 

        Lisa

      • June 12, 2011 at 3:02 am
      FormerCaregiver
      Participant

      According to your profile, the PET scan that you had in January was clear (apart from one
      lymph node). Your CT and MRI scans were clear at the time.

      Correct me if I have missed something, but let me recap what has been happening. You had
      a CT scan that detected very small nodules in May. Since then, another CT this month
      has confirmed that these have increased in size. Of course, there is no foolproof way of
      confirming that the nodules are melanoma without a biopsy. However, if you were to have a
      PET scan soon it might be able to show if these are likely to be cancerous or not.

      Unfortunately, things seem to be happening faster than one would expect. Therefore, it is
      really good that you are starting treatment soon.

      Best wishes

      Frank from Australia

Viewing 7 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
About the MRF Patient Forum

The MRF Patient Forum is the oldest and largest online community of people affected by melanoma. It is designed to provide peer support and information to caregivers, patients, family and friends. There is no better place to discuss different parts of your journey with this cancer and find the friends and support resources to make that journey more bearable.

The information on the forum is open and accessible to everyone. To add a new topic or to post a reply, you must be a registered user. Please note that you will be able to post both topics and replies anonymously even though you are logged in. All posts must abide by MRF posting policies.

Popular Topics