Body Scans

[sickbird]

What do you mean by false positive?

A non-malignant tumor?  Or something that doesn't exist at all?

If you are talking about the latter case, wouldn't there be a follow up test of some sort that would confirm or deny the body scan's result?  Something less intrusive than a biopsy.

For instance, in the case of a potential tumor on an organ such as the liver or pancreas, wouldn't an ultrasound be in order?

[myelo]

A false positive means the diagnosis of a disease that is not there.

It could be lots of things -- scar tissue from a previous problem, a non-cancer nodule, variation in normal anatomy or an outright mistake in reading the test.

On brain MRIs, they’re called “UBOs” -- unidentified bright objects. They’re very common.

For example, in one study 100 normal volunteers had a brain MRI. These images were then mixed with those from patients with pituitary tumors and read by radiologists. 10% of the normal people were incorrectly diagnosed with a pituitary tumor.

And sometimes yes, another test may be done. And based on those results, even more tests or treatments may be ordered. Ultimately this can lead to chain of events which results in ill-advised tests or treatments that cause avoidable adverse effects -- all initiated by an unnecessary test and patient patient/doctor anxiety. This is known as the cascade effect, or by the more technical term “whacking the tar baby.”

[Toad]

Your risk assumptions seem to revolve around invasive testing to confirm scan results. IE: needle biopsy or even surgical biopsy.

Using my brother as the example, there were NO invasive tests performed to verify the scan. There were several other scans, most of them with a radioactive component. CT's and PET's for example. The PET scan, in particular, totally confirmed the kidney cancer diagnosis; the tumor lit up like a spotlight due to the radioactive component injected.

So there are ways to check it out without any invasive testing.

Further, if you get a "baseline" scan an it showed a small pea sized growth on a kidney, you could always just "standby" and repeat the scan in 6 months or so. If there was no change, leave it alone. If it was the size of an egg.... well, it NEEDS checking.

I think as time goes by, these scans are going to be recognized for the valuable tool that they are. Because of the heart disease in my family, my sons are going to get baseline heart scans starting at age 25 and repeat every 3-5 years or as necessary. To me, it's really cheap insurance.

I feel the same about a body scan. Get the baseline and see if there's anything that needs watching. Repeat scan at a suitable time if there is something to watch.

As I said..... $500? You can't get cr*p done in the way of overall testing in  a regular Doctor's office for $500.

But each to their own. For my family, it's been just about a miracle. The ability to non-invasively "see" a tumor before it metastasized into a fatal problem...... wow, we live in wonderful times.

[debuman]

I can't echo the idea of get checked when you can enough!  I've been out on medical leave for about 6 months now due to kidney problems.  In the process of checking for the pain source, doc decided to do a colonscopy.  Didn't find the pain - but did remove 7 polyps, 2 of which would have been cancerous within a couple of years.  Doc said they normally don't recommend colonscopy's until a man reaches 50.  I'm only 45 and never would have made it to 50....
Get checked while you still have time!!!!