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Is a Spiculated lung nodule always malignant?

Lung Health | Last Active: Nov 7 12:13pm | Replies (129)
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@overthehillsb

I had a low dose lung cancer test and it came back that I have A spiculated right upper lobe pulmonary nodule measures 5.4 x 6.6 mm, with average diameter of 6.0 mm (3/59). That they are saying is highly suspicious for cancer. I have an appointment with the lung doctor in just a few days. Of course I would prefer to have it removed asap. I do not like the sound of lets see if it grows or lets wait for this or that. Time is important for survival. My biggest questions is will they remove right now or does it need to be bigger as with time it can spread. Scary. How big does it have to be to do a biopsy ? What kind of Biopsy do they do? Needle or down your throat/nose? Any information would be helpful. Do they have to do the biopsy before removing? I do have serve copd so does this change how my case will be handled?
I did stop smoking 7 years ago.

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Replies to "I had a low dose lung cancer test and it came back that I have A..."
Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Jul 2 11:19am

Welcome to Mayo Connect @overthehillsb, I'm sorry to hear that you are facing this finding, and congrats of quitting smoking! IF it is cancer, it is still early, screening is working!, and it sounds like you have the appropriate appointment scheduled soon with a pulmonologist. That's good! Try to take a pause, and not get ahead of yourself. We don't know that it's cancer. There are many people with non-cancerous lung nodules. I have stage IV lung cancer, but also have a 1 cm lung nodule from a fungus. It happens.
While our first instinct is to run to surgery to get it out, that's not always the best approach. Surgery comes with pain, sometimes lifelong nerve pain. I hear of many doctors that want to wait until the nodule is 1 cm before doing a biopsy. That's not unusual. If they insist that you wait, they'll likely do another scan in 3 months.
Biopsies are highly dependent on the location of the nodule, and the overall health of the patient. Over the past four years, I've had a handful of bronchoscopies (down the throat), that I tolerated with minimal side effects.
They may also want to do a PET scan. The nodule may light up more on the PET scan if it is cancer versus some other inflammation or infection. That's not always true of very small nodules either.
You haven't been sick recently, no covid or other lung infections?

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