Can benign lung nodules shrink?

[MassMike]

Mom had an initial scan that showed non suspicious Lung nodules. 6 months later they rescanned and shrunk, but the thing is this scan was 3 months into Folfox. Are they Mets because they shrunk? Or can benign lung nodules shrink? She’s had pneumonia and bronchitis many times in her life. She has multiple nodules, and all of them shrunk and there was no growth so that makes me think it’s benign but my anxiety makes me think of everything. Doctors aren’t concerned and don’t think they’re Mets. Thoughts?

[zephyr]

I've been wondering the same thing because I'm about to have surgery on lung nodules that look and act like cancer but ... who knows? Your post prompted me to search for more information. The general answer, without the benefit of case specifics, seems to be: yes, benign lung nodules can shrink and grow. Here's an excerpt (and also a link) from a Cleveland Clinic page:

Benign lung tumors:
Are not cancerous, so will not spread to other parts of the body
Grow slowly, or might even stop growing or shrink
Are usually not life-threatening
Usually do not need to be removed
Can expand and push against nearby tissues but will not invade, destroy, or replace other tissues

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15023-benign-lung-tumors

I'm hoping that someone with a lot more knowledge will chime in with an answer.

[MassMike]

Anyone have any insight? Freaking out really bad

[justin case]

I have had a lung nodule all throughout my cancer journey, it never picked up any uptake on a Pet Scan. I still have it, and monitor on a occasion with an X-ray. It's still the same size. Many hospitals, are prone to give repetitive CT scans, to scare the cancer patient for 5 or more years. If you are that worried , get a PET scan, and find out for su-re !

[stu]

Some disappear so surely they must reduce in size as they go . I also noticed different radiologist sometimes do different measurements . Not much different but a little .
Stu

[ams5796]

Sure, they certainly can. Sometimes they are part of an infection which goes away and shrinks as it does so. Sometimes it's just debris that gradually disappears. I've had a few lung mets and I also have a TB-like infection in my lungs. I have scarring from surgeries, SBRT, colds etc that gets better and disappears (somewhat) as time goes on.