Spot on lung should i be worried

The first step of the process is examining the size and shape of the nodule. The bigger the nodule, and the more irregular the shape, the greater the risk of it being cancerous.

A CT scan can provide a clear image of the nodule and give more information about the shape, size, and location. If the results from a CT scan reveal that a nodule is small and smooth, your doctor may monitor the nodule over time to see if it changes in size or shape. In addition to a CT scan, your doctor may order a tuberculin skin test or more commonly an interferon gamma release assay IGRA to check for latent tuberculosis.

They may also request that your blood be drawn for additional tests to rule out other causes such as local fungal infections. These may include coccidioidomycosis commonly known as valley fever in the southwestern states like California and Arizona or histoplasmosis in the central and eastern states, especially in areas around the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. If a pulmonary nodule is cancerous, your doctor will determine the best course of treatment based on the stage and type of cancer.

Treatment options can include radiation or chemotherapy to kill and prevent the spread of cancer cells. Treatment may also include surgery to remove the tumor.

However, quitting smoking is the best way to help prevent cancerous pulmonary nodules. Early screening may help for those who are at high risk for lung cancer. Low-dose computer tomography scans can help find these nodules before people have cancer symptoms.

In some cases, a cancerous pulmonary nodule represents a metastasis from a cancer that began in another part of the body. Other causes of lung nodules are infections, inflammatory conditions, and benign tumors or cysts.

If you have any of these underlying conditions, your doctor may recommend treatment that will depend on the underlying condition. If a repeat scan shows that the nodule has grown, your doctor might also want to get another type of imaging test called a positron emission tomography PET scan, which can often help tell if it is cancer.

If later scans show that the nodule has grown, or if the nodule has other concerning features, your doctor will want to get a sample of it to check it for cancer cells. This is called a biopsy. This can be done in different ways:. These types of tests, biopsies, and surgeries are described in more detail in Tests for Lung Cancer.

Lung nodules are likely to be benign in the following circumstances, Andrade said:. Some symptoms that may lead to a chest X-ray or CT scan include:.

Most lung nodules are not cancerous, or malignant. However, your doctor may suspect a lung nodule is cancerous if it grows quickly or has ridged edges. Even if your doctor believes the nodule is benign or noncancerous, he or she may order follow-up chest scans for some time to monitor the nodule and identify any changes in size, shape or appearance.

This collaborative approach to treatment means the patient has multiple advocates working together to determine what steps need to be taken to ensure nothing is missed while monitoring or treating the nodules. The lung care program also offers a lung cancer screening program. The screening program gives patients at high risk of developing lung cancer regular screenings with the goal of catching cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages. Marc Bowen , will address those concerns and discuss the necessary next steps when an X-ray reveals a spot on your lung.

A spot on the lung, which is also referred to as a lung or pulmonary nodule, could be an early indication of cancer. However, this is not usually the case. The appearance of a lung spot on an X-ray is quite common and usually indicates a benign condition. Another possible cause of a lung nodule is a granuloma, a benign rounded scar resulting from many different benign inflammatory diseases, other than cancer. A lung nodule is a spot that is at least two centimeters in diameter that appears on a lung X-ray, and the size of the spot is important.

Smaller nodules are more likely to be benign than larger nodules.