Learning About Lung Nodules
What is a lung nodule?
A lung nodule is a growth in the lung. A single nodule surrounded by lung tissue is called a solitary pulmonary nodule.
A lung nodule might not cause any symptoms. Your doctor may have found one or more nodules on your lung when you were having a chest X-ray or CT scan. Or it may have been found during a lung cancer screening.
A lung nodule may be caused by an old infection or cancer. It might also be a noncancerous growth.
Most nodules do not cause any harm. But without further tests, your doctor can't tell whether an abnormal finding is cancer, a harmless nodule, or something else.
What can you expect when you have a lung nodule?
Your doctor will look at several risk factors to see how likely it is that the nodule is cancer. Your doctor will look at:
- Whether you smoke or have ever smoked.
- Your age and your family's medical history.
- Whether you have ever had lung cancer.
- The size, density, and other characteristics of the nodule.
- Whether the nodule has changed in size. Your doctor may look at past chest X-rays or CT scans, if available, and compare them. Or you may have a series of CT scans to see if the nodule grows over time.
What happens next depends on the risk of the nodule being cancer.
- If you have no risk factors and the nodule is small, your doctor may advise doing nothing.
- If the risk is small, your doctor may schedule follow-up appointments and CT scans later to see if the nodule is growing.
- If there's a higher risk of cancer, your doctor may:
- Do a PET scan, which may help tell if the nodule is cancerous or not.
- Take a sample of tissue from the nodule for testing. This is called a biopsy.
- Remove the nodule with surgery.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.
Where can you learn more?
Go to https://www.healthwise.net/patientEd
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Current as of: November 14, 2022
Author: Healthwise Staff You are leaving this website for information purposes only
Medical Review: You are leaving this website for information purposes onlyE. Gregory Thompson MD - Internal Medicine & Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine & Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine