[chris0830]

Lytic lesion vs plasmacytoma?

by chris0830 on Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:28 pm

So my dad just found out today he has a "slight lesion" on his right femur that was picked up during a bone density test today. The nurse said because he has no pain at all in this area, they will monitor it. Also dad will be starting Zometa early next week.

Dad's previous bone scans have been clear, yet I understand skeletal surveys/scans do not pick up very small lesions.

Because this is the only lesion showing up so far, would this be classified as a lytic lesion or a plasmacytoma? I'm not sure I understand the difference. Unfortunately, I have limited details on the actual size of the lesion at this point.

Chris in CT

[Multibilly]

Re: Lytic lesion vs plasmacytoma?

by Multibilly on Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:52 pm

Hi Chris,

I'm not a doc, but if a bone density scan (DEXA scan) picked up a lesion on a femur, I would think that would suggest that the patient would likely then get a PET/CT to see if any lesions were present elsewhere in the body, and to see if they were cancerous. But again, I'm not a doc.

Also, you may want to be clear on terminology. A "bone scan" is different from a DEXA scan, PET/CT, MRI or skeletal survey (whole body xray). One doesn't normally use "bone scans" to look for multiple myeloma lesions.

Also, just FYI, this is a great article on imaging for multiple myeloma.

https://myelomabeacon.org/forum/pet-scans-for-multiple-myeloma-t3687.html

Hope this helps a bit.

[chris0830]

Re: Lytic lesion vs plasmacytoma?

by chris0830 on Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:04 pm

This link is very helpful, thank you so much!

Chris in CT