Hi--my Mom Has Two Nodules On Her Lung, Both An

Posted on Sat, 15 Dec 2018

Question: Hi--my mom has two nodules on her lung, both an the upper left lobe. She is a former smoker. The larger nodule measures 11.5 mm. The smaller one is 4 mm. The larger one originally was 2 mm in 2015 and has grown since. The smaller one was 3 mm and is now 4. The larger one appears as a ground glass opacity. At least on the CT, her lymph nodes look normal. She has no plural effusion. We assume it is cancer but are hoping it is stage 1A. She is getting it biopsied soon, but I wondered what you thought.

Follow up: Dr. Drkaushal85 (14 minutes later)

She had a PET scan one year ago that came back negative. She has another one scheduled for next two Tuesday.

Answered by Dr. Drkaushal85 (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
The possibility of a malignant nodule is more likely.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your question on 'Ask A Doctor' forum.
I can understand your concern.
I have gone through the history you have given.

The possibility of a malignant nodule is more likely.
This is because of slow growth of nodule and past history of smoking.
However, although the previous PET scan was negative, the biopsy will be diagnostic and clarify this further.
So let's go ahead with the biopsy at first.

Hope I have solved your query.
I will be happy to help you further.

Wishing your mom a good health. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Drkaushal85 (1 hour later)

We assumed that it was malignant. I was just wondering what the odds seemed to be of it being metastatic. I guess she has some other nodules in her lungs that seem stable (one on her right upper lobe, etc) in addition to the aforementioned 11.5 mm one and the 4 mm one.

Answered by Dr. Drkaushal85 (21 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Possibility of metastases is low.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your follow up question on Ask a doctor forum.
I can understand your concern.
Sorry for late reply as I was busy with family function.
Possibility of metastasis is low because the nodule size is stable and her primary nodule not more than 2 cm size.
So distal metastases and lung mets are less likely.
Hope I have solved your query. I will be happy to help you further
Wishing good health to your mother. Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T