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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Can A Mass In Lung Be Cancerous?

Hello, a few weeks ago, my mom had a chest x-ray after experiencing pain and unable to sleep at night, and they found 4 masses in right lung & 1 mass in left lung, all very large. Today is her biopsy. What are the chances that she has lung cancer, and is it possible that these could be benign? Also, 5 years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but after chemo and radiation, she has been in remission ever since. She is 68 (69 next week), never smoked, and is healthy. Thank you!
Tue, 27 May 2014
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Oncologist,  's  Response
Hi. Very sorry to hear about your mother's illness. I am sure a CT scan of chest must have been done before proceeding onto biopsy. If not, it should be done.
From the description you have given index of suspicion for malignancy (cancer) should remain very high in this case.
Since she has a previous history of breast cancer I suspect that its a breast cancer relapse in lungs producing multiple metastasis.
Other possibilities are primary lung cancer with metastasis or primary cancer elsewhere with lung metastasis.
The exact primary disease will be confirmed by histopathology report of biopsy. Immunohistochemistry IHC will also help in narrowing down on the diagnosis.
Once diagnosis of cancer is confirmed, metastasis in other body parts should be ruled out with an ultrasound scan of abdomen & pelvis and a bone scan.
I hope your query has been answered. You can discuss it with the treating oncologist as well. Thankyou for choosing Healthcare magic.
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Can A Mass In Lung Be Cancerous?

Hi. Very sorry to hear about your mother s illness. I am sure a CT scan of chest must have been done before proceeding onto biopsy. If not, it should be done. From the description you have given index of suspicion for malignancy (cancer) should remain very high in this case. Since she has a previous history of breast cancer I suspect that its a breast cancer relapse in lungs producing multiple metastasis. Other possibilities are primary lung cancer with metastasis or primary cancer elsewhere with lung metastasis. The exact primary disease will be confirmed by histopathology report of biopsy. Immunohistochemistry IHC will also help in narrowing down on the diagnosis. Once diagnosis of cancer is confirmed, metastasis in other body parts should be ruled out with an ultrasound scan of abdomen & pelvis and a bone scan. I hope your query has been answered. You can discuss it with the treating oncologist as well. Thankyou for choosing Healthcare magic.