MRI question

[survivor42]

i was diagnosed with an astrocytoma, grade 2, in my right parietal lobe and thalamus (both sides) back in april 2007.  i have since gone through 54 radiation treatments as well as 3 months of temodar treatment 5 on/23 off.  my last two mri's have shown a small bright spot about 1.5 cm, not where the tumor is, but in the right parietal lobe, which was not present earlier.  the drs are watching it by doing mri's every two months but cannot identify what it is since it is so small.  The first tumor is about the size of a baseball in total and two biopsies were done - one at the time of diagnosis and one other when a lesion appeared on the first mri.  the lesion biopsy was inconclusive.  the original tumor appears to be getting smaller although it is not apparent to me when I look at the mri. My questions are these:  could the small bright spot be scar tissue from the radiation and two, when i am looking at the mri's with my neurologist, what should i be asking him so that i can better understand what is going on?  i am so confused.  thank you for any help you can offer.

[survivor42]

hi,

i appreciate your quick response.  I'm feeling better than i have over the last months, although nowhere near how i felt before all of this began.  I am 42 years old.

i have not undergone surgery because i was told by two neurologists that the tumor was inoperable due to the size and the way it is woven through my brain.  The only surgeries i've had were the biopsies.  

What other type of pathology might show the shadow that is on the MRI?

I will definitely keep you informed.  Thank you so much. :)  

Also if anyone else can help me out with questions that are important, i will greatly appreciate those as well.

thank you for the quesions i can ask. have a good day.          

[JainMD]

Hi Survivor,
How are you feeling? How old are you?
You said you have Grade-II Astrocytoma according to WHO classification.
Have you undergone surgery for that? What type of surgery was it and how long back it is been done?
Radiation therapy can cause scar tissue formation. I think it might be scar tissues which are represented as bright spot on MRI, but neuro-radiologists are the best person to detect them.
You can ask doctors regarding tumor regression, tumor size now and then. Is radiation helping you in treating the tumor?
How long to continue the therapy? Is it possible to see other pathology for same shadow on MRI?
These are some possible questions you can ask radiologist.
Keep me informed.
Bye.