PET is superior to CT in the assessment of mediastinal nodal metastases. In patients with N2 disease, PET had a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 94% compared with a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 73% with CT. The superiority of PET is even more marked in the assessment of hilar nodes, for which it has a 73% sensitivity and a 76% specificity, compared with an 18% sensitivity and an 86% specificity with CT
from
eMedicine - Lung Cancer, Staging : Article by Isaac Hassan, MBChB, DMRD, FRCR
sensitivity of 83 % means that it will detect 83 of 100 true cases of cancer
that is 17 % false negative rate
the higher the sensitivity the better the negative predictive value
- that means a negative test eliminates the possibility of what you are
looking for
specificity of 94 % means that 94 of 100 + tests were truly cancer and 6 of 100
tests were false negative [ + test ] not due to cancer.
- the higher the specificity the better the positive predictive value.
the higher the liklihood that a positive test is truly due to the pro-
blem you are testing for.
Characterization of the Solitary Pulmonary Nodule: 18F-FDG PET Versus Nodule-Enhancement CT -- Christensen et al. 187 (5): 1361 -- American Journal of Roentgenology
"These histologically confirmed false-positive nodules included histoplasmosis, chondroid hamartoma, sarcoidosis, foreign body reaction to talc, and necrotizing granuloma, all conditions with inflammatory components and thus increased vascularity."-
Talk to your doctor about
1] the risk that this is cancer - and the risk that it will spread and therefore become untreatable in 3 months.
2] the risk that this is not cancer - and therefore the risk of a biopsy/ surgery.
The risk of cancer is higher if
you smoke or have smoked regularly in the past, or less likely - second hand smoke.
asbestose exposure
If you have chest x-rays or cat scans of your lungs from 1 or more years ago showing these lesions and no change the likelihood that this is cancer is less. If they were not there then - then I would get a biopsy ASAP.
Grace and Peace