Five years....and lung nodule

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DanInMN
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:18 pm

Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DanInMN » Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:34 am

I had my 5 year follow-up with my oncologist today. My treatment was by the book, with most everything going the way you hope. Surgery went well. Got through chemo. I have some of the usual side effects of the process. Bowel issues, occasional chemo-head.

I've also had a few nodules in my lungs there were there from the beginning. They did not react to the chemo, and were stable. Then, a year ago, the CT showed one of them grew a little (4 mm to 6 mm). We set another CT for 6 months, and found it had not grown at all. Now, 6 months later, it is 9 mm.

Because these nodules existed before the colorectal cancer was detected, and did not react to chemo, my oncologist says they are unlikely related to the colorectal cancer. She also says the odds of it being cancer are low. But I don't feel reassured, and it is so disappointing to get 5 years out and suddenly need a biopsy. I know there is nothing magical about 5 years, and there never are guarantees, but I think it would have been a relief to get the all-clear regardless.

I hate to be back to the waiting for test results stage.
Dan - Male - Age 41
3/5/2012 - Colonoscopy - dx: sigmoid colon cancer
3/29/2012 - Colon Resection - growth through wall, 1 of 23 nodes, 4 tumor deposits - dx: Stage 3b
5/7/2012 - Begin Folfox
10/10/12 Finish Folfox
10/22/12 CT scan = NED
4/17/17 Lung nodule discovered to be colorecretal cancer met
5/12/17 Met removed

DarknessEmbraced
Posts: 3816
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:54 pm
Facebook Username: Riann Fletcher
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:27 am

I hope that your lung biopsy will be clear.*hugs*
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)

DanInMN
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:18 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DanInMN » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:53 am

DarknessEmbraced wrote:I hope that your lung biopsy will be clear.*hugs*


Thanks. I guess I'm just venting.
Dan - Male - Age 41
3/5/2012 - Colonoscopy - dx: sigmoid colon cancer
3/29/2012 - Colon Resection - growth through wall, 1 of 23 nodes, 4 tumor deposits - dx: Stage 3b
5/7/2012 - Begin Folfox
10/10/12 Finish Folfox
10/22/12 CT scan = NED
4/17/17 Lung nodule discovered to be colorecretal cancer met
5/12/17 Met removed

TXLiz
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 3:31 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby TXLiz » Thu Apr 20, 2017 2:59 pm

Vent away! I hope you get good news.

Venting is so needed.
Vomiting and blockage 9/19/16 46 y F
R hemi colectomy 9/20/16
Stage 3 B CRC, located in cecum
3 out of 16 lymph nodes positive
perineural invasion/lymphovascular invasion
infiltrating, mod differentiated adenocarcinoma with a mucinous component
separate tumor nodules present in pericolonic adipose tissue
MSI-high
Baseline PET scan clear 9/16 CEA 0.5
FOLFOX 10/16- 3/17
April 16th, CT scan clear. CEA 1.1
Lynch "inconclusive"
Colonoscopy 10/5/2017 clear

DanInMN
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:18 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DanInMN » Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:52 pm

Actually, now that I've made the mistake of reading about nodule growth, I'm really scared.
Dan - Male - Age 41
3/5/2012 - Colonoscopy - dx: sigmoid colon cancer
3/29/2012 - Colon Resection - growth through wall, 1 of 23 nodes, 4 tumor deposits - dx: Stage 3b
5/7/2012 - Begin Folfox
10/10/12 Finish Folfox
10/22/12 CT scan = NED
4/17/17 Lung nodule discovered to be colorecretal cancer met
5/12/17 Met removed

stu
Posts: 1613
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:46 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby stu » Fri Apr 21, 2017 1:42 am

Hi,
Please remember that people here have had lung nodules removed that have been a cm and they have not been cancer. They grow too .
In oncology terms they described my mum's nodule as slow growing and that was over two years.
Are you having a PET scan? My mum had uptake at 7mm .
They followed my mum's nodule and although it was slow growing it did continuously grow. She has two nodules that have stayed at 2mm for six months but are not classed as disease.
It's such an anxiety but I would have to say there is a strong possibility that your oncologist is correct and this is a peace of mind exercise.
I do hope so and it's just a bump on the road.
Kind regards
Stu
supporter to my mum who lives a great life despite a difficult diagnosis
stage4 2009 significant spread to liver
2010 colon /liver resection
chemo following recurrence
73% of liver removed
enjoying life treatment free
2016 lung resection
Oct 2017 nice clear scan . Two lung nodules disappeared
Oct 2018. Another clear scan .

User avatar
Jacques
Posts: 678
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:38 am
Location: Occitanie

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby Jacques » Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:50 am

There are many possible causes of lung nodules. See the article below for an overview.

Causes of Lung Nodules Benign and Malignant
https://www.verywell.com/causes-of-lung-nodules-2249386

Also, you can have benign nodules that grow over time. (I have had one of these for the past 5 years). I don't think you need to worry right now.

Have they considered doing a PET scan instead of a biopsy? On rare occasions there are problems with "tumor seeding" along the biopsy route when a lung biopsy is done:
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132016000100071

Deb m
Posts: 558
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:08 am

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby Deb m » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:01 am

I think odds are greatly in your favor that its not cancer. Is your CEA a good marker for you? Has it been stable?

Will be praying and hoping for the best.

deb

DanInMN
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:18 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DanInMN » Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:00 pm

Thanks for all the kind replies. Right now, the plan is to start with the biopsy and see where we are at. I assume a PET scan would follow a positive result. I did have a PET scan 5 years ago with no uptake from the couple nodules I have. My biggest worry is that the growth over the last year or two is close to the median growth for malignant lung nodules. I fall into some of the categories that indicate a low chance of malignancy (non-smoker, etc) and some that are the opposite (history of cancer, fast growing).

I wish I could have given family and friends good news. I know many were seeing 5 years as a big deal.
Dan - Male - Age 41
3/5/2012 - Colonoscopy - dx: sigmoid colon cancer
3/29/2012 - Colon Resection - growth through wall, 1 of 23 nodes, 4 tumor deposits - dx: Stage 3b
5/7/2012 - Begin Folfox
10/10/12 Finish Folfox
10/22/12 CT scan = NED
4/17/17 Lung nodule discovered to be colorecretal cancer met
5/12/17 Met removed

sdino
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:32 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby sdino » Fri Apr 21, 2017 5:41 pm

Praying for you Dan thee Man !
Caregiver for Wife 54 yrs old
DX:11/16-CC sigmoid colon
Lung Mets: 25+ Bilateral ranging 4mm-5.0cm
MSS, KRAS-G12D; TP53
iTCR TIL Trial NCT03412877 4/19 to 7/19 Off trial, - Sept. 2019 TIL trial NCT01174121
CT Scans: 7/2020 lung met shrinkage 36%, 3 lung mets left, two Liver mets destroyed by TILs
Brain tumor removal 3/2020
CEA:16-11/16; 5 -9/18; 63 -8/19; 1 -1/20; 0.8-5/20

lpas
Posts: 1010
Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:11 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby lpas » Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:12 pm

Hi Dan,

There's a long-term member here--JulieJ--who had a lung spot that had been around since diagnosis suddenly start to grow. She had VATS and it turned out to be benign. You can read one of her posts about it here:

http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37873&p=271323#p271323

It's worth noting that Julie's doctor at MSK recommended against biopsy due to the possibility of seeding. Granted her situation was slightly different given that she was already stage IV at diagnosis, but this still might be worth a conversation with your doctor. It it was me, I'd ask at least request another PET before attempting a biopsy.

Will be keeping fingers crossed for you that this is nothing. Please do post back and let us know.
Last edited by lpas on Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
11/14 Dx sigmoid CC @ 45yo
12/14 Colectomy + hysterectomy
Stage IIIB, T3N1bM0, 2/20 nodes, MSS, G2, KRAS(A146T), TP53, SMAD4, ERBB2, CEA 1.0
2/15-7/15 XELOX & celecoxib
2/19 clean scope
11/19 clean CT
Ongoing cimetidine & other targeted supplements
Mom to a 6 & 8yo

TXLiz
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 3:31 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby TXLiz » Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:19 pm

My husband smokes cigarettes constantly and has had lung nodules for years. His are harmless right now, but they watch them. He's never had a cancer dx.

Yours could very well like his! Praying for you.
Vomiting and blockage 9/19/16 46 y F
R hemi colectomy 9/20/16
Stage 3 B CRC, located in cecum
3 out of 16 lymph nodes positive
perineural invasion/lymphovascular invasion
infiltrating, mod differentiated adenocarcinoma with a mucinous component
separate tumor nodules present in pericolonic adipose tissue
MSI-high
Baseline PET scan clear 9/16 CEA 0.5
FOLFOX 10/16- 3/17
April 16th, CT scan clear. CEA 1.1
Lynch "inconclusive"
Colonoscopy 10/5/2017 clear

DanInMN
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:18 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby DanInMN » Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:49 pm

Thanks again for the thoughts and info. Very helpful!

My biopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. I'm going to try to get a hold of my oncologist before then to ask about seeding. From what I've read, it does seem like a low risk thing, but still.....

I will definitely update this thread when I know more.
Dan - Male - Age 41
3/5/2012 - Colonoscopy - dx: sigmoid colon cancer
3/29/2012 - Colon Resection - growth through wall, 1 of 23 nodes, 4 tumor deposits - dx: Stage 3b
5/7/2012 - Begin Folfox
10/10/12 Finish Folfox
10/22/12 CT scan = NED
4/17/17 Lung nodule discovered to be colorecretal cancer met
5/12/17 Met removed

testing765
Posts: 324
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:41 am

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby testing765 » Sat Apr 22, 2017 12:18 pm

Good luck on Wednesday DaninMN. Hopefully it won't be anything you need to worry about.
male-age 44 at diagnosis
8/14-clnscopy
8/14-CT scan,no mets
9/14-left colectomy,CEA 2.2 before surgery
pT2pN2bpM0
3 cm tumor in dscnding colon
7/23 pos LNs
low grade MSI stable
10/14-start folfox
1/15-CT & PET scan and sigmdoscopy- no mets
3/15-finish folfox
9/15- clnscopy- 3 polyps removed
10/15- CT scan, NED
10/16- CT scan, NED, CEA 1.6
10/17- clnscopy- 4 polyps removed, CT scan NED, CEA 1.8
10/14 1.9; 4/15 2.8; 5/15 2.4; 9/15 2.8; 12/15 3.1; 1/16 3.0; 4/16 2.5; 7/16 2.5; 10/16 1.6; 1/17 1.9

Lee
Posts: 6207
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:09 pm

Re: Five years....and lung nodule

Postby Lee » Sat Apr 22, 2017 2:44 pm

HI Dan, yes good luck. Five years out and dealing with this scare. That is tough. I remember hitting the 4 -5 yrs mark thinking/feeling I've actually beat this.

All the best to you,

Lee
rectal cancer - April 2004
46 yrs old at diagnoses
stage III C - 6/13 lymph positive
radiation - 6 weeks
surgery - August 2004/hernia repair 2014
permanent colostomy
chemo - FOLFOX
NED - 16 years and counting!


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