On my latest CT scan (May 05) my oncologist stated that the radiologist that viewed my scans said that the "questionable mass" in my right lung had grown slightly. Not something I wanted to hear. My oncologist said that he did not believe it had grown and we should just "wait and see" since the change was so minor (1 mm change in diameter). Being active in the TC community I posted this email to the TCRC list serve, a group of TC survivors and TC experts that help people around the world with this disease.
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First a little history:
Diagnosed: Non-Seminoma ,Vascular Invasion, March 2004
Surgery: Left I/O March 2004
No Visible Metastasis in Lymph Nodes or Lungs but HCG and AFP level kept rising after surgery (There was a small questionable mass in my right lung but remained unchanged during chemo, so oncologist believed it was not cancerous- more on this in a moment)
Chemotherapy: 3x BEP finished June 04
Began Testosterone Replacement March 2005 (Feel much better now ! )
Remission ever since- Blood levels unremarkable (blood work has been done monthly)
CT scans unremarkable ( done every 3-4 months since chemo ended)
After my last CT scan earlier this week I met with my oncologist today. He said that the radiologist reading the scan sees a slight enlargement in the small mass that they believe is non-cancerous in my right lung. Even though the radiologist reported that the mass has changed my oncologist doesn't believe it is anything significant, however, he wanted me to know what the radiologists report stated. Since all my blood work has come back unremarkable and the change in the mass is so slight, we decided to just keep watching it and continue on with my checkup protocol was normal.
My questions are:
1. If the mass is TC and continues grow to will my HCG and AFP levels begin to rise again or is it possible that there will be no change in my levels?
2. Since the mass is small he indicated that a PET scan probably would not give us conclusive results to determine if the mass is active. Is this statement accurate?
3. Can they determine if it is tetroma in anyway without surgery to remove the mass?
I feel comfortable with the decision that I made to just watch and see what happens, but I thought I would get the input from this group of savvy TC veterans. From reading a lot of the emails over the past couple of months from the list I know that re-occurrence scares are nothing new, however, I like to be proactive and make sure that I get all the information possible so I can make good decisions. Thanks.
Austin Elling
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I received many responses and the general consensus was to wait and see rather than doing surgery or a lung biopsy. Hopefully my next CT scan scheduled for September will show no change in the mass.
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