My dp (56) has a tumour in his lung - oncologist thinks it’s cancer (no biopsy yet)

It’s a 3cm mass that was found during a CT scan where doctors were concerned that he may have a blood clot but they found this instead in the upper left lobe. There is also a much smaller mass, lower down the same lung. 

Now, the thing is that the oncologist thought it looks like primary lung cancer. But he had male breast cancer (diagnosed when he was 42). It was the hormone reactive one and he had stage 3. The cancer was surgically removed but he chose not to have follow-up chemo or any other treatment. 

As we all know, cancer can come back. And I’m wondering if this is in fact, metastatic disease. Would a doctor know it’s not this by just looking at the tumour type? He’s managed to get a PET scan done today, so we should at least be able to know more from this.

I know that nobody can really answer my questions but we have a 5 year old little girl who suffers from extreme anxiety and I’m so sad for her as well as him. 

I guess I am wondering if anyone has been through something similar? 

  • Hi Elekktra, 

    This is such an anxious time for you both as you are trying to figure out what this mass is and whether it is primary lung cancer or linked to the male breast cancer he had at the time. I think you can probably trust the oncologist's professional hunch. I am not sure if a doctor would know it is not metastatic disease by just looking at the tumour type but it's good that they are being thorough and that he has had a PET scan done today and as you rightly pointed out, this should soon give you some answers and I hope that you won't have to wait too long for the results. 

    It's really hard going through all this when you also have a little girl who suffers from anxiety and it's difficult to find the right words or to know what to say to your little one. There is information on our website on talking to children about cancer which I hope you will find useful if you ever needed to broach this difficult subject with your little girl. 

    I hope that you will hear from the experiences of others on here who have been through something similar and that they will come and share their story with you. 

    Fingers crossed you get some clarity on all this soon. If you wanted to talk things through with our cancer nurses, you are welcome to give them a call on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

    Best wishes, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Thank you so much for your kind words, Lucie.