# What are the chances of a false positive WBS?



## kadalikay

I went for my post ablation WBS 5 days after taking 100 mcl of I 131. They did a repeat of my chest because they wanted to make sure that I had not left a contaminated imprint on my chest. After the 2nd scan my report came back as follows:

Post ablation scan reveals generous thyroid remnant and ill defined area of I 131 uptake projected over the mid anterior chest, slightly eccentric to the left with similar intensity as the liver. Abnormal uptake within the chest wall, underlying mediastinum or medial left lung cannot be excluded. Further evaluation with computed tomography may be warranted.

So I have a CT scan scheduled on the 19th.

I have done some research and I know that there are known cases of false positives, but they are not very common. The reality is that it is actually rare, though it can happen. I have read that there have been cases of the Thymus gland taking up iodine. I was just wondering if anyone here has experienced this or know anyone who has. I have been posting on many boards and so far, I have found no one.

More than the thought of metastasis, I am more concerned that they may find something even worse. My mom's side of the family has her dad, sister, and two brothers, all passed before they were 60 , from small cell lung cancer. 
I know that God has a path for each of us to walk, and I am strong in my resolve to walk this path humbly, gracefully, and full of hope and praise. I just never thought that I would be facing all this at 38.


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## joplin1975

Oh no...I'm so sorry. I don't know the answer. My impression was also that false positives were rare. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. Please keep us updated, ok?


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## Octavia

kadalikay, refresh my memory...did you have surgery? And then a treatment dose of RAI within the past week or so? Or did you have a treatment dose a year ago?

If this is your first treatment dose, it can take several weeks/months for the RAI to kill the remaining thyroid and thyroid cancer cells, so they will definitely show up on the scan.

Aside from that, my doc told me that the ONLY thing that shows up on a post-RAI body scan is thyroid cancer or thyroid cells--RAI is not absorbed by any other cells in the body. Perhaps that will help you relax (even just a bit) about what they saw on your scan?

:hugs:


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## kadalikay

I had my TT in August....RAI on the 26th of October.....so the likelihood is that the uptake in my lungs was thyroid cells hoping to set up shop. They were not expecting there to be any metastasis so I think everyone is a little bit surprised. My original pathology said that my 2.5 by 1.5 tumor was encapsulated ......there was some mild capsule invasion...but all my margins were clean. So here we are today.....one dose of RAI down. If they do determine that it is metastasis , will they want to surgically remove it or will they try to let the RAI do it's thing?


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## Octavia

My guess is they'll want to give the RAI a chance to do its thing. Normally, the protocol is to wait a year until your next WBS, but since you have lung spots, I doubt they'll want to wait that long... maybe 6 months (just a guess).


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