Rectal Cancer/Lung Nodules and Liver Hypodensity

[Mikele]

Hello,

My mom was diagnosed with stage 2/3 rectal cancer a few months ago. She finished her neoadjuvant chemoradiation and surgery is gonna be sometime in December. I've been having some anxiety about her scan reports. Doctors have said nothing to worry about since the nodules don't look malignant and my mother had bronchitis and pneumonia almost yearly when she was younger and she also smoked for 30 years but quit about 6 years ago but of course I still worry. If anyone has any insight on the reports or experience with nodules and liver hypo density's please let me know.

FINDINGS:
3 x 7 mm nodule along the right minor fissure image 48 may represent an incidental intrapulmonary lymph node. 4 mm micro nodules right upper lobe image 30 and left apex image 12. additional scattered less than 4 mm micro nodules. No suspicious lung
nodules or consolidative changes. Central airways are patent. No pleural effusions
IMPRESSION:
1. No definite evidence of metastatic disease in the chest.
2. Small subcentimeter lung nodules. Given history of rectal cancer 3 months followup is recommended to assure stability.

Hepatobiliary: Subcentimeter hypodense focus medial aspect of left lobe, too small to characterize, likely simple cysts. Status post cholecystectomy. No intra or extrahepatic biliary ductal dilatation.

[NHMike]

I'm sorry that your mother has cancer but she's on the standard treatment path (my surgery is in several days) for rectal cancer. A coworker had something show up and the doctors were going to go in using some moderately invasive approach to get a better look at it but her husband said that she had pneumonia in the past few months and her doctor cancelled the procedure and had her see a pulmonary specialist. It turned out to be nothing cancer-related.

I think that the way to determine if there's a problem with your mother's lungs is to get a scan down the road and compare the sizes of the things found. Perhaps you could ask about this with her doctor.

[Aqx99]

My first scan showed nodules in my lungs. I had a second scan done after chemoradiation and before my surgery. The nodules were unchanged, so they ruled them to be scar tissue from a previous infection.

[menreeq]

Lung nodules that size can be from many things, benign and malignant. Small liver lesions like that are so common. Only time will tell. I know that's not definitive, but I think the wording of the report is reassuring.

[susie0915]

My first ct scan showed some liver spots that were non specific. They no longer show up on follow up scans. Also, my scan last may showed a 4mm lung nodule that my oncologist believes is related to some scar tissue and inflammation of have in the lungs. It is being monitored with follow up scans which have shown no change. It is too small to do biopsy or pet scan so just have to watch. Cancerous nodules can double in size in 3-4 months so when the stay the same or shrink it is considered non cancerous. Ct scans can pick up many little spots, try not to worry.