Cure Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma International (iCureASPS)

CT (Computed Tomography) Scan
MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) Scan
PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Scan
Conventional X-ray Scan
Bone Scan
Full Body Scan
Other scans

These terms are all different types of methods to detect tumors in our body. Here we will discuss the different scans and their usefulness in detecting ASPS in different organs / parts of the body

Is there any reason an ASPS patient should have a CT with NO contrast for the lungs or the brain. I have had over 20 CT scans since my diagnosis and a few of them have been WITHOUT contrast which defeats the point for me. Isn't the point of the scan to show as much as we can in the area being scaned. I have never had any allergic reactions to contrast. So I don't know why they choose not to use it everytime.

Charity - I actually do not know, Ivan has only had a CT with contrast for the abdomen at some point as an annual abdomen check up - his oncologist do not want to do it more frequent as she thinks that most of the liver, kidney, spleen are well seen on the lungs CT. The rest of the CT scans - lungs - were done with no contast.

Olga
My name is Debbie and Josh is my son.
He had his left lung lasered by Dr Rolle in January of this year
How long before we can develope a good baseline CT?
Thanks in advance

Sincerely,
Debbie

Debbie - this is a good question.
The first after the laser assisted surgery CT scan is usually a very buzzard looking one - the round spots after the smaller mets that were not visible before of the surgery (smaller than 1 mm and not detected by the CT scan but found by Dr.Rolle during the surgery by the manual palpation) and were burned - will suddenly be visible and probably classified as the new small mets. Some medium sized (2-4 mm) would be also burned on spot and became 4-6 mm round scars and would be classified as a growth. We usually make an attempt to let the radiologist know about the nature of the surgery Dr.Rolle does.

On the other hand there might be real new small mets too, and there is no real way to distinguish one from another. Probably on a CT scan done with the contrast they might look different but I am not sure when the smaller size are concern. So I consider the first CT scan after the surgery a new base line scan, and we usually had it done in 3-4 months, but really it can be done any time now for Josh if there were any bigger mets in the second lung that need to be watched.

The second scan after the surgery is more revealing. The scars after the laser application should either decrease/evolve into the linear scar or at least remain the same. The nodules that behave this way are the prime candidates to be the scars - dead mets, but it is not a guarantee as we had mets staying about stable for a year and starting to grow after. The new nodules noted from the base line scan to the second scan are really new mets, and the growth is a real growth - unless there was a cytotoxic chemotherapy that sometimes produces the false growth appearance effect when there is an inflammation in the lung met and it may appear slightly bigger when in fact it is sick, then you wait to see the next scan again.
I was trying to find out what would be the normal time frame for the zipped nodules/scars to dissolve and only found that there is a significant variability in how they behave and they might remain visible for a long time - but their shape usually becomes oval first and linear after.

Dear Forum members,
I wonder if there is any reason to do conventional X-ray lung scan instead of chest CT.
I did chest CT in February and April this year. The next CT/X-Ray should be done in July. Some doctors assure that it is 10 times less radiation when one does conventional X-ray instead of CT. But can conventional X-ray be informative for ASPS patients? Is it really dangerous to do CT every 2-3 months?

Dear Alexander,
the radiation exposure from CT is of course much higher and some drs suggest for the patient to alternate the CT with the X-Ray, but whether it makes a sense to use this alternate schedule or not depends on the goal these scans are used for.
If the person does not have known lung mets, and the long term surveillance is ongoing to monitor his lung, it might be very much appropriate - it might be used for decades and alternate CT scan twice a year to detect any tiny mets and X-Ray twice a year in between to detect (unlikely) explosive growth (from nothing visible to cm ranges) could be a valid strategy - for example for a kid with known history of completely resected ASPS.
If the person already has known ASPS lung mets and is under some drug treatment, the scan is used to monitor the response and to detect if there is a resistance develops. The measurements of response could not be done using X-Rays. They have to be able clearly answer what is the goal of X-Ray - what are they planning to see using it. Usually the response is monitored about once in 3 months. Some places have reduced radiation dose scanners.
If the person is planning to have a lung mets resection or ablation, the lung mets are monitored to optimally schedule that. When Ivan was going to have his lung mets resected by Dr.Rolle, we would scan is lungs every 3-4 months and send the scans to Dr.Rolle to decide if it is already the time to go for another surgery (he had 4 overall). Now we manage to go without the surgeries with cryoablations only for the last few years and he is having his lung mets scanned every 5-6 months to monitor if there is a growth, to pinpoint the slowly growing mets and watch them till they grow to an optimal size for ablation - about 10 mm.

How do we perform a bone scan?
Is it from a PET?
Then proceed more definitive scan if there is possible evidence of a light up somewhere in the body?

Thanks in advance
Debbie

A bone scan is a separate type of scan. It uses its own contrast different from the other scans.
read more here:
A bone scan is a nuclear medicine imaging test that uses bone-seeking radioactive materials or tracers (radiopharmaceuticals) and a computer to create an image of bones.
http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-informat ... ?region=on
It more precise in bones than the PET scan and allows a visualization of whole skeletal system at once.

Using NMRI

I was just reading on that as a MRI with nuclear tracers
Thanks Olga
Debbie

Nuclear scans

What do they show?
Nuclear scans make pictures based on the body’s chemistry rather than on physical shapes and forms (as is the case with other imaging tests). These scans use substances called radionuclides (also called tracers or radiopharmaceuticals) that release low levels of radiation.

http://m.cancer.org/treatment/understan ... s-nuc-scan