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Thoracic (arteropulmonary) lymph node enlargement?
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Thoracic (arteropulmonary) lymph node enlargement?

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Thoracic (arteropulmonary) lymph node enlargement?

  • Post
    • November 30, 2017 at 10:06 am
    Spl25
    Participant

      Just had a CT after 15 months of success on pembro. All lesions have shrunk or are stable, except for an arteropulmonary “AP window” lymph node near the heart and lungs. its grown to about 2.3 x 1.8 cm for normal size of 1.2×1. It may just be a response to infection. We will be sticking with Keytruda but scanning a bit sooner than usual. Has anyone had experience with enlarged nodes in this area? Are there specific dangers associated with growth in this area? Any advice would be helpful.

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        • December 1, 2017 at 6:21 pm
        mrsaxde
        Participant

          Your story sounds almost like mine. I had been receiving Keytruda for over 1.5 years. It had killed visible spots on my skin and nodules in my right lung. Last year a CT scan revealed a small lesion on my right hilum. It has been there for a while but had recently started to get larger. My oncologist didn't think it was anything to worry about, but she ordered a new PET to be sure.

          Well, unfortunately the PET came back positive for cancer in my right hilar and subcarinal lymph nodes (it also confirmed that Keytruda had done the job on the other cancer). A biopsy confirmed that I had "atypical pigmented cells" in the lymph nodes.

          The original plan was to do radiation and resume Keytruda. But I went to see Dr. Sharfman at Johns Hopkins, as I have been doing whenever my situation changes, and he got me into a clinical trial that he thought could potentially give me a better result. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. (I was about to put up a new post about it when I saw yours.)

          I really hope your situation is better than mine was, and that maybe you just have an infection. But given what happened to me, I think it would be wise to ask your oncologist to verify what is going on via PET.

          -Bill

            • December 3, 2017 at 12:38 am
            Spl25
            Participant

              Was it the HDAC trial? My oncologist hasn’t said what she’ll do if it’s still enlarged, but I was thinking surgery was more likely than radiation.

              • December 3, 2017 at 12:55 am
              Spl25
              Participant

                Also, PM me if you’d like to trade contact info. 2 heads being better than one.

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