PET scan show unclear activity in region of ovary??!!!

[Lorelei66]

I have a 4cm cyst on my ovary, and am having the ovary removed in a few days. The doctor seems confident that its a dermoid tumor, and I am very low-risk (38 yrs old, two children, on the pill, no cancer in the family)I had a routine chest x-ray before the surgery, and they found a spot on my lung, and I was then given a PET scan to rule out malignancy. Luckily the spot on my lung appears benign, but the PET scan did show "unclear activity in the area of my ovary". The gyno has not followed up on this news, and seems only slightly more concerned. He has suggested removing the entire ovary, and if necessary performing lapatotomy to remove the whole ovary safely. My question is: Has anyone ever heard of a unclear activity on a PET scan? Cancer has not yet been mentioned, but I feel like my risk factor went up a notch - am I just being paranoid? Could this be a low malignancy tumor as opposed to high one? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Lorelei66]

an update..... I had a laporascopy yesterday, and instead of finding an ovarian cyst, they found a fibroid on the outside of my uterus!!! And that after an echo, CT scan and US all showed a swollen ovary... Just proves AGAIN that you really can't know ANYTHING until you get a laporascopy. They did a biopsy (just in case), but left everything intact. The fibroid looks great (ie harmless), and isn't causing me any discomfort. If it grows, I can eventually have it removed (that requires a laparotomy, which they didn't want to do yesterday without my consent). I will of course have it checked regularly...

reading through the archives of this forum has been very helpful in calming my fears and helping me ask my gyno the right questions - thanks!

[Lorelei66]

Yes, I'm still planned for a laparoscopy, which I continue to tell myself is a good sign. I've been warned that it could become a laparotomy, but apparently that's standard procedure with a cyst of this size - you never know how easy it will be te remove. I heard today that unclear results in the pelvic area are not unusual - it's a tough area to see, since the stomach and bowels often light up.

Fingers crossed for both of us...

[debpokerqueen]

Thanks for your reassurance!  At the moment, I'm pretty calm.  Please keep me posted on how things work out and good luck on your surgery.  Are they doing a laparoscopy?  I wish you a speedy and painless recovery, and of course, a benign cyst!

[Lorelei66]

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I'm trying not to worry - the doctor has not changed the operation, so I guess he's still optimistic that its benign.

IF somthing shows up on your chest x-ray, don't panic - even if you do have a spot, rememember that single pulmonary nodules are very common (I didn't know that until I had one), and very often benign.

Good luck!

[debpokerqueen]

PET scans show the level of activity in an area of the body tissue, based on sugar uptake values.  The more the uptake values, the more active the area. Malignancies tend to be very activ e.  I think any value above 2.0 is of concern.  BUT, PET scans can "light up" for other reasons besides malignancies - inflamation, infection, scar tissue, etc.  I'm not sure what "unclear activity" means, but I wouldn't panic because the ONLY way anyone can know for sure is if they go in and do a biopsy.  Also calcifications can light up, which may be relevant as well, but not cancerous.  I'll think good thoughts.  My  pre-op chest X-ray is upcoming soon, and I'm a bit nervous as I have a good friend (non-smoker, 35y/o) who has lung cancer.  (Thus, my knowledge of PET scans, as he has them all the time, and we've had some false alarms, thank God.)