But the good--should I say great--news was shown in the report from the PET scan from Via Radiology in medical-ese such as:
Head and neck: There is evidence of complete and morphologic and metabolic response with resolution of any pathologic FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) uptake* in the head and neck (i.e., nothing glowed).
Chest: No significant lymphadenopathy is detected.
Abdomen and pelvis: All of the previously present hypermetabolic lympho nodes have resolved..."
Muscoskeletal: No pathologic FDG uptake is identified.
For an added bonus, my spleen has diminished slightly in size, from 13.4 cm to 12.2 cm. I didn't even know it was enlarged!
*On a PET scan, "uptake" refers to uptake of the radioactive tracer. In layman's terms, a PET scan works something like this: a sugar molecule with a radioactive tracer attached is injected into the bloodstream. Active cells (including cancer cells) utilize sugar more than surrounding less active cells. These active cells take up the sugar and the tracer at a faster rate and glow more brightly on the scan. The intensity at which these cells "glow" on the scan is referred to as the uptake. A SUV is a standard uptake value. The higher the number, the more tracer was taken up.
It is important to note that just because "uptake" is seen on a scan does not mean there is cancer. Various things such as thymic rebound, infection, inflammation, brown fat, etc. can also cause uptake to be seen on a PET scan. The PET scan simply measures metabolic activity. What that metabolic activity means requires a good radiologist to read the scan and often a biopsy to confirm the presence of disease versus inflammation or one of the other possibilities I mentioned.
from Mozartsmom on http://forums.lymphoma.com/showthread.php?t=46313
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| A 74 year old man with lymphoma |
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