Enlarged Thymus?

[Aqx99]

My oncologist called me today with the results of the CT scan I had last week. Everything else looks good, but my thymus is enlarged. She said that she has seen this before in patients that have had pelvic radiation, because their blood counts don't rebound as quickly. My blood counts have been consistently low since my last chemo. We decided that to be on the safe side, I should go for a PET scan. She is having me come in tomorrow to draw my labs again and I am scheduled for the PET on April 6th. Has anyone else here dealt with the same issue?

[Lee]

My oncologist called me today with the results of the CT scan I had last week. Everything else looks good, but my thymus is enlarged. She said that she has seen this before in patients that have had pelvic radiation, because their blood counts don't rebound as quickly. My blood counts have been consistently low since my last chemo. We decided that to be on the safe side, I should go for a PET scan. She is having me come in tomorrow to draw my labs again and I am scheduled for the PET on April 6th. Has anyone else here dealt with the same issue?

I am so sorry you are dealing with this. From my personal experience, radiation is the gift that keeps on giving. I have a clot in my right leg as a result of radiation. The good news I was a power walker before it popped up, thus I have no pain today, guess my body was fixing itself prior to my clot diagnoses. Why am I telling you this, because radiation is probably the culprit.

Good luck with upcoming blood work and PET scan, butt during mean time, try not to worry (yes I know easier said than done).

Thinking of you,

Lee

[Aqx99]

I had the PET scan as scheduled. I will be seeing my oncologist on Wednesday the 11th for my 3 month visit and to get the results.

[CRguy]

..... but my thymus is enlarged. She said that she has seen this before in patients that have had pelvic radiation, because their blood counts don't rebound as quickly. My blood counts have been consistently low since my last chemo. We decided that to be on the safe side, I should go for a PET scan.

Thymic rebound hyperplasia is one well known sequela of chemotherapy it seems https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17263694
and possibly lifestyle / physiologic factors https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847950/

One other thing to consider when you talk to your Docs about the PET scan is highlighted below, as it may be a cause of concern for them / you and need further clarification.

Thymic Hyperplasia
Thymic hyperplasia most often occurs as a rebound phenomenon in patients who have received chemotherapy for treatment of lymphoma or germ cell neoplasms. Diffuse hyperplasia occurs within 2 weeks to 12 months after chemotherapy and may manifest with mediastinal enlargement on radiography or may mimic thymic neoplasia on cross-sectional imaging. On PET-CT, thymic hyperplasia typically exhibits only mild FDG uptake, in contrast to marked uptake by recurrent malignancy. Chemical-shift MRI (in-phase and out-of-phase gradient-echo sequences) may be used successfully to differentiate thymic hyperplasia from thymic neoplasia. FROM : Diane C. Strollo, Melissa L. Rosado-de-Christenson, in Clinical Respiratory Medicine (Fourth Edition), 2012

My point : even with an enlarged thymus, if there is PET scan uptake, it does NOT automatically mean it is cancer again = just another specific situation where there could be a false positive PET scan result and your Docs need to be on their A-Game for you !!!!

Cheers and best wishes
CRguy