Small Nodules in Both Lungs

[susyq1976]

Hello
a friend of mine was just getting over bronchitis. She felt fine but her doctor kept hearing a 'sound' in her breathing with his stethoscope. He sent her for a chest x-ray, and it was clear. but he could still hear something abnormal with his stethoscope. So he sent her for a CT scan. The scan showed multiple small nodules in both longs, in clusters with areas of mucoid impaction. They told her that in the absence of prior examination for comparison, they advised follow up at one year with a low-dose CT. Isn't one year kind of far away? If it's a malignant tumour, aren't they losing a lot of time waiting and seeing? lung cancers are pretty aggressive, aren't they? my friend is a non-smoker, and a healthy 60 years old. Can you let me know if a one year wait  and see timing is typical for someone with multiple small nodules in both lungs? If they recommend waiting one year, does that mean they think the likelihood for lung cancer is low?
Thanks in advance - I lost my father to lung cancer so i am very concerned about this.

[susyq1976]

Thanks for your reply!
I will pass the message onto her. I agree that it's probably better not to wait.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.  

I understand your concern.  Yes, they may think that the lesions have low likelihood of cancer that's why they recommended a 1 year interval in between scans.  However, it depends on their level of confidence and even for me, a year may well be too long.  If you and your friend are not comfortable with this, then I suggest you discuss with her doctors if they can do the scan after 3 months.  If at the 3rd month scan everything turns out OK, then a yearly scan may be reasonable.  Also, I suggest you advise her to take note of any change in symptoms and report it to her doctors.  Regards and God bless.