If you have a chest x Ray and they spot something like cancer…

[Monkeybumbum7]

How soon would you hear?

The dr can hear ‘something’ in my left lung- wheezing/ crackling and I’m very breathless.

Had the x Ray this morning. Nurse frightened me by saying they are checking for a ‘mass’

I'm sure you would hear pretty quickly if something was wrong. There are lots of things can cause chest problems, not just cancer. They are only checking to rule it out. But it's not the wisest thing to say to a patient. There must be other ways, such as, 'we're just checking to see that everything is ok.'
If you don't hear anything then please don't worry, it will be because there's no real problem.

A mass can be anything:
Pneumonia
Infection
Phlegm
Cancer
I'm sure there's more.

Her wording has thrown you but she is correct in what she's saying. They were looking to see if they can see anything in your lungs, this doesn't automatically mean cancer.

Who requested it? Unless it was an urgent referral or part of a clinic results could be a week or more.

The GP requested it and the hospital prioritised me within a couple of days.

Agonising wait

They won't diagnose cancer on an xray alone, although it could ensure that further investigations are booked in very quickly.

There are lots of other things chest-related that xrays can show op, please don't jump straight to the negative.

Did they say how long the results should take?

I agree that an XRay would not pick everything up, you would need a CT or MRI scan. Things like say, blood clots would not be seen on an Xray.

Hopefully it won't take too long, it's horrible when you get told things on a Friday too.

My father was told it was cancer on the spot. Sending hugs and positivity that you are healthy and easily treatable xx

It's not just for diagnosis of cancer. They used X rays when my son had breathing problems as a toddler ( as someone else said, they were looking for pneumonia then I think - it was done in the middle of the night!)

Thinking of you, the wait must be agonising

@Monkeybumbum7 did they taken one Xray of your chest?

My brother was given a letter there and then to take to a Consultant appointment the next day, which my parents opened so we knew then it was almost definitely cancer, as he wasn’t the first in the family. Fingers crossed everything’s ok for you OP.

Cancer diagnosis cannot be made solely on the basis of an x-ray. They might identify something that requires further investigation, but that could be many things, as mentioned above.

I knew something was wrong as soon as the radiologist wanted a second x ray, immediately after taking the first. It was clear something was wrong. I was sick enough that I wasn't going home but I was in CT within hours. It took three days to diagnose pneumonia but lung cancer was a possibility.

@Poppiesway1 yes one.

I’m very sorry to read of other people’s negative experiences.

10 days in my Dad's case. They don't rush themselves.

@Monkeybumbum7 That is a positive sign. If there was a mass present on the 1st view they would have needed to take a second.
As a reporting radiographer we are exceptionally short staffed throughout the country. We cannot keep up with the amount of X-rays being requested and needing reporting.
If anything is spotted when the radiographer takes the X-ray they will then fast track it to be reported quickly. If not it’s taking quite a while to get through the reporting process.

My friend's 'something suspicious' turned out to be scarring from a bout of pneumonia in childhood.

IME the radiologists will tend to spot something that's worrying and urgent and you'd find out very quickly - same day possibly,

But also IME a mass can be scar tissue (my DH) and crackling can be infection or asthma (DS).

I had 6 agonising weeks after they spotted shadows on my lungs. No-one told me (or my GP) what was going on, I kept being sent for more scans and investigations, often to places with 'cancer' in the title.

It wasn't cancer. Eventually turned out that one shadow was caused by scarring from TB 20 years earlier I didn't even know I'd had, and the other shadow just disappeared. They said 'That sometimes happens'.

So don't assume the worst - it can be all sorts of things. And if the tests go on a while, without any clear diagnosis, that can mean they haven't found anything to worry about, but need to be sure before giving you the all clear.

My mum had treatment for bowel cancer, and as part of her follow-up she had an xray which happened to be higher up than was the norm, this showed shadows. She's been having repeat xrays for 7 years and they've only recently decided to take a proper look.

I hope everything goes okay for you op

How did u get on op