Tubular, Physiologic FDG Avidity: What do these terms mean?

Moderate Hypermetabolic
Had a pet scan and got the results. States Moderately hypermetabolic left upper lobe nodule (3,139) 1.1x09cm, maximum SUV 5.7 and Moderately hypermetabolic right upper lobe pulmonary nodule (3, 137) 0.7 x 0.7 cm, maximum SUV 3.6. I have no idea what this means. I'm assuming it's not good. My dr. hasn't contacted me as of today and I don't get to see him for a few weeks. All this started last October and to me to keep waiting, and waited, doing CT Scans, now a PET Scan is disturbing. Why are they waiting? Anyone knows what this means.

Had a pet scan and it shows Spleen normal in size and FDG avidity. I don't have a clue what this means. Did anyone ever get that on a report? Any info would be helpful.

Hi @dablues82, clearly you are concerned about seeing the results of you PET scan before having a chance to review it with your doctor to help interpret the results. Of course, you can look up the meaning of the terms to help you prepare for the appointment, but the test results are best interpreted with your doctor because they have your complete medical history and test results. The PET scan is only one piece of the puzzle.

To help members see more about your PET scan results, I merged your 3 posts into one discussion.

I'm not a doctor, but here is some definitions of the terms used in the imaging report.

Regarding metabolic activity:
"A PET scan (positron emission tomography) works to identify areas of hypermetabolic activity anywhere in the body. A radioactive substance is given to the patient and this attaches to glucose, which is attracted to cells that are hypermetabolic. When the scan is done, these areas "light up." Often, but not always, cancer cells fall into this category of being hypermetabolic. In addition, not everything that is hypermetabolic is cancer."

It sounds like there was a moderate amount of hypermetabolic activity shown on the PET scan results. The scan cannot differentiate between cancer cells or other situations like infection or inflammation that may be causing this activity.

F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is the radiotracer commonly used in PET scan imaging. FDG uptake by colon on FDG-PET indicates areas that need further investigation. It may be inflammation such as inflammatory bowel disease, benign lesion such as benign polyp, or malignant lesion.

"Lung nodules are small clumps of cells in the lungs. They're very common. Most lung nodules are scar tissue from past lung infections. Lung nodules usually don't cause symptoms." https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/expert-answers/lung-nodules/faq-20058445

I know this all is disturbing. Can you call your doctor to make an appointment to review the results? And to ask what, if any, further investigations are necessary? What was the reason that the PET scan was ordered?

"The scan cannot differentiate between cancer cells or other situations like infection or inflammation that may be causing this activity."

The whole response was excellent, that passage stood out to me. Allergies, asthma, and exposure to cleaning fumes or air pollution can cause an elevated SUV.

Your oncologist will compare the images of both the CT and the PET and other information he has before making a call.

To add to the above, from the following journal article...."The majority of these were related to infection and inflammation. Pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections, and wound infections were among the most common". Might be good to ask your oncologist to discuss this article with you

Here's the article