Learning About Lung Nodules

What is a lung nodule?

A lung nodule is a growth in the lung. A single nodule surrounded by lung tissue is called a solitary pulmonary nodule.

A lung nodule might not cause any symptoms. Your doctor may have found one or more nodules on your lung when you were having a chest X-ray or CT scan. Or it may have been found during a lung cancer screening.

A lung nodule may be caused by an old infection or cancer. It might also be a noncancerous growth.

Most nodules do not cause any harm. But without further tests, your doctor can't tell whether an abnormal finding is cancer, a harmless nodule, or something else.

What can you expect when you have a lung nodule?

Your doctor will look at several risk factors to see how likely it is that the nodule is cancer. Your doctor will look at:

• Whether you smoke or have ever smoked.
• Your age and your family's medical history.
• Whether you have ever had lung cancer.
• The size, density, and other characteristics of the nodule.
• Whether the nodule has changed in size. Your doctor may look at past chest X-rays or CT scans, if available, and compare them. Or you may have a series of CT scans to see if the nodule grows over time.

What happens next depends on the risk of the nodule being cancer.

• If you have no risk factors and the nodule is small, your doctor may advise doing nothing.
• If the risk is small, your doctor may schedule follow-up appointments and CT scans later to see if the nodule is growing.
• If there's a higher risk of cancer, your doctor may:
  • Do a PET scan, which may help tell if the nodule is cancerous or not.
  • Take a sample of tissue from the nodule for testing. This is called a biopsy.
  • Remove the nodule with surgery.