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Lung cancer

LindaJayne
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My dad has lung cancer..hes had a PET scan. Hes refusing a biospy. Because he had postrate cancer over 10 years ago .. it could be secondary cancer or a different one. Can you tell by a PET scan what grade the cancer is at & how to treat the cancer?

thanks

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    Hello LindaJayne and welcome.  I have never had a PET scan but am attaching a link to some information on this website which explains what it can do.  I am sorry to learn about your dad and hope this information is useful.  If you need more detail then I am sure some of the many people who have experienced a PET scan will come along and chat with you.  Best wishes.  Annie

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/.../pet-scan

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    Hi LindaJayne..

    With response to your Dad's lung cancer, my husband has it. The lung biopsy is important to find out which cancer is in his lung. I think there's nonsmall cell and small cell. I just read nonsmall cell is usually smokers. My husband has small cell in his 3rd remission. He gets ct scans every 3 months and last time PET scan then biopsy. They can't always tell if it's scarring or inflammation on the scans so that's when biopsy is done. My husband in the mid 80s had 1/3 of his right lung removed. 2011 or 2012 it was in both lungs. He got 9 days of radiosurgery. He was in remission til late 2015 when we met. I got his weight up to normal from 101 to 135. He had 7 weeks radiation at moffitt on the left lung then 5 days radiosurgery on his right lung Feb-march and sept 2016. That's all he can have now. He had pneumonia, thrush with fever 102 when hospitalized in sept 2016. Praying for you and your Dad. The biopsy is important. My husband will be 63 in Nov. 

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    Hello LindaJayne. You must be very worried about your Dad. I was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2017. I had a PET scan about a month later. The PET scan shows whether you have any other areas of "activity" anywhere else. In my case there was what was described as "avid uptake" at the junction of my small and large intestine as well as in my right lung. I had surgery to remove the top lobe of my right lung last April (a year ago) and have had four colonoscopies to find out what was going on in my colon. Turns out it was a large adenoma, not malignant but needed to be removed. That was finally done in November and a follow-up in January showed all was well. Activity in my lower spine also showed up on the PET scan, but that turned out to be arthritis. So it's been quite a journey. The PET scan will not show what grade our dad's cancer is - I think they will need to do a biopsy for that. I had a bronchoscopy and would certainly refuse another one - it was the most dreadful experience. But I subsequently had a CT guided biopsy, and that was fine - it also showed the size and area of my cancer and what kind it was - non-small-cell carcinoma. I hope this info helps. Good wishes to you and your Dad.

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