CT scan - tumors

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Little Worried

CT scan - tumors

Postby Little Worried » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:33 pm

Hello,

I am hoping someone might be able to provide some input. Would a ct scan of abd/pelvis show tumors? Aren't tumors always involved with later stage colon rectal cancers? Thank you for any input. I am prayerful that no visible tumors would be a good sign of no advanced cancers.

Thank you

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JudyM
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Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:29 pm
Facebook Username: Judy Cole Mitchell
Location: NH

Re: CT scan - tumors

Postby JudyM » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:01 am

Hi LittleWorried,
just going through this ourselves. DH thought he had an ulcer and his GI scheduled a bunch of tests. He did the bloodwork and the CTscan right off, but couldn't get scheduled for the upper/lower GI for a month. During the CATscan, they thought his liver looked odd so they also did some ultrasound around all his organs. when the GI dr got the reports, he was suspicious and moved the scoping to the next day.. and found the rectal tumor. so the scans & the ultrasound showed the liver mets, the tumor they found during the colonoscopy (that they added in addition to the upper & lower GI).

I don't think it needs to be a later stage cancer to have a tumor, but for it to have metastasized it would be.
DH, 56yrs,
Dx 9/1/11,Stage 4 RCa with liver mets, 1N.
9/14 folfox-Avastin
4/12 erbitux & irinotecan
11/12 radiation + xeloda
7/13 small lesions in both lungs, some nodes, liver gone beserk
8/13 folfiri+zaltrap
11/21 chemo fail.
121-20 flown away

janklo
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Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:10 pm
Facebook Username: JanetKlostermann

Re: CT scan - tumors

Postby janklo » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:29 pm

A CT might now show a tumor if it's not that large. My daughter has peritoneal metastatis, which means little tumors all over inside her abdominal cavity. She only found out about it when one of them reached 2 cm in size and started showing up on the CT. I don't know what size a tumor would have to be to show up, but I am sure there are plenty of times when there's something in there that just doesn't show.

But on the flip side, an acquaintance of mine had shortness of breath and went to the ER. They did a CT and told her she had a massive tumor on her liver. Further testing showed it to just be a hemangioma (a benign tumor made up of blood vessels) and of no concern.

You can't really reach any conclusion without other testing and getting the reports from all the various doctors.
Mom to 28 yo daughter
colectomy 2/22/10, stage 3C, signet cell
7/2011 peritoneal mets
HIPEC September 2012, difficult recovery
Hospice 10/31/2012, Died 11/16/2012

annalexandria
Posts: 684
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2011 11:46 am
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: CT scan - tumors

Postby annalexandria » Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:41 pm

Sorry that this reply is late-I just recently joined. My experience was that the CT was not able to pick up tumors until things got pretty advanced. I was given an "all-clear" based on a CT last August and was in emergency surgery in October with a number of significant colon tumors. I now will accept result from the PET only, which in my case has been able to pick up tumors that the CT can't (the latest round of scans this summer was CT=no tumors/PET=2 cm tumor). Hope this helps, Ann
Mom, librarian
Dx age 43, Sept. '09, Stage IV Carcinosarcoma of the colon
5 surgeries, 2009-2011:
colon/sm. bowel res., node removal, peritoneum, hysterectomy
FOLFOX/Avastin Feb.'10-Aug '10
Carbo-Taxol Dec. '10-Feb. 2011
NED since Dec. 2011.


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