Lots Of Questions Please Help - Cancer: Lung Message Board

COPINGWCANCER · 01-10-2005, 07:50 AM

My Grandfather Was Just Told He Has Cancer And This Is All We Know Can Anybody Tell Us What It Means? There Is An Enlarged Chest Wall Base Lt Upper Lung Mass. It Is Seen As High As The Left Apex Of The Left Hemithorax And Goes Inferiorly To Approx The Level Of The Left Mainstem Bronchus Bifucation. The Max Dimention Is 10cm It Is In Direct Continuity W/ The Left Hilum. There Are No Contralateral Lymph Nodes Present(what Does This Mean?are They Infected Or Not?) Ther Is A Second Smaller Mass Within The Lower Left Lobe Abutting The Lateral Chest Wall Which Measures 3.5cm.there Is Left Pleural Effusion.can Anyone Tell Me Anything About All This Any Help Is Good Thank You.

shadowrose40 · 01-14-2005, 06:20 AM

HI

Pleural effusion is fluids. As to the masses, no one here can really tell you what they mean or don't mean. There are some types of lung cancer that can be treated surgically, others with chemo and radiation, still others with a combination of the three.

The fact that there are two masses suggests that the cancer has spread, but no one here can know that for sure. A PET scan will give them more answers, as cancer cells tend to show differently with a PET scan.

When surgery is appropriate, they will biopsy the mass, and surrounding lymph nodes to see if and how far cancer might have spread.

Hope this helps. I'm so sorry for the new diagnosis. It's difficult, I know.