Lung met growth after SBRT??

[Ana123]

Had a very brief and inconclusive talk with the nurse over the phone today in which all she could confirm is that the radiologists screwed up reading my father's latest Dec PET by comparing it to his June CT rather than August PET. Before saying that she did say that the radiologists noted that his lung nodule has grown "slowly", something like from 1.4cm to 2.4cm (if I remember correctly - that doesn't seem slow to me - or is it??). She said they'll ask for a re reading based on correct scans. Not sure if this will change fundamental message (unless radiologists confused scarring from SBRT on met to re growth - is this possible??)

In any case it's the weekend and now I have to wait until Monday to get the radiologists to do a proper reading/comparison and I'm trying to keep all the anxieties at bay. I'm also even more confused as his CEA is down compared to his last one (from 2.5 to 2). Can CEA not be a good marker for my dad?

My dad had SBRT in Feb on a single met to the lung as he wasn't a candidate for surgery (reduced lung capacity due to 45+ years of smoking) and no chemo afterwards. Can a tumour grow after shrinkage due to SBRT (shrinkage noted in his June & August scans)? What options do we have? SBRT again? Would chemo just be maintenance at this stage? And what kind?

Thanks for any info. It will help me dealing with onc and careless radiologist on Monday. I'm trying to get onc radiologist who did his SBRT to read the scans too.

[ams5796]

After SBRT I had a lot of scarring which made it difficult for the medical professionals to read a scan for about a year. They kept scanning and my oncologist was not very happy with what he could see. There was a lot of scarring which looked like cancer to him. My CEA was good so we waited it out for a bit and eventually it cleared up. I've been NED ever since.


Ann

[Ana123]

Thanks Ann for sharing your experience.

Need to get oncological radiologist on this case. Really hoping it's a misreading...

Anyone with experiences of tumour growth after SBRT?

[Ana123]

Unfortunately the worst has been confirmed. The radiation oncologist who did SBRT said that the FDG uptake after 9months of SBRT make him suspect that the nodule is still alive and kicking.

How accurate is the FDG uptake? His CEA has gone down though.

He wants us to get surgeon to reconsider our case, and if we're still ruled out, he said we could also consult intervention radiologist for RFA.

My dad had pneomotharax and ended up in ER when they initially biopsied his lung met to rule out a lung cancer primary. Assuming that interventionist radiologist and oncologist would recommend RFA, we'll probably have another episode of pneumothorax and ER.

Any experiences with RFA and/or repeated pneumothorax? Failed SBRT options?