Hello Gilly7 and thanks for your post,

I am sorry to hear about your husband. It is difficult to be able to give an opinion without being involved in your husband's care.

The doctors need to establish what the growth is before they try and work out the most appropriate treatment. Hopefully a further scan will be able to help them in any decision making. It is difficult to speculate about what type of cancer it may be as this will depend on where the growth started

I can understand how unsettling this can be waiting to find out more.

You are both very welcome to ring and chat through any of this with one of the helpline nurses. the number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm.

All the best,

Catherine

Hi Catherine,

thanks for the reply, much appreciated.   The PET scan results showed low FDG avidity on the mass.  We were told this by the CUP nurse assigned to us, but haven’t actually been given an opportunity to chat with or have an appt with a doctor.  We just wondered what type of cancer in that area might show low FDG avidity uptake, as we’re now waiting around 8 weeks or so for another scan to see if the mass has grown.

best regards,

Gilly 

Hi there Gilly and thanks for getting back in touch

Unfortunately it is still impossible to try and work out what is going on following on from the pet scan report. If you can try and see if your husband can speak with the doctor or nurse again to get some more information before the next scan this would be best.

As I am sure you are aware most active cancers will reveal a high fdg (fluoroxydeglucose) uptake on a pet scan. That usually signifies the location of high metabolic activity however as you say there are some types of tumour that will show a low level of fdg uptake but are still cancerous.

Tumours with low grade fdg uptake can include low grade lung adenocarcinomas, some types of kidney cancer and mucinous neoplasms but it is impossible to draw conclusions about what is going on in your husbands case.

It is down to the medical professionals involved in his care to run any necessary tests to find out more about what this tumour is.

It seems they are monitoring the situation, which is good but I appreciate the not knowing and waiting is unsettling.

I hope you can get some more clarity about this soon.

Best wishes

Naomi