Causes of mass in lung

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

Can anyone advise on what might cause this other than lung cancer?

It’s my dad, 72, generally fit, non-smoker, an active lifestyle but diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year. This was treated with immunotherapy and checkups since show it to be at a low level that doesn't need any more treatment for now.

He’s had a cough for a few weeks, increasingly breathless to the point of being unable to take stairs in the last week. Very unlike him. Lost weight and been tired. He had a chest X-ray and was told today he has a mass in his right lung (via mum). Scan tomorrow but won’t know results for a couple of weeks, they say. Won’t know size of mass until this.

How likely is it that someone can have two types of cancer? He’s never smoked. What else could it be? Anyone have experience or knowledge of this? Thanks so much.

Sorry OP I can’t advise, but opened your post as my aunt has just had a lung biopsy. Sending positive thoughts x

I've just had pneumonia with a lung abscess, which I didn't know was a thing. Showed up on xray and ct scan as a massive block on my lung. Was resolved with antibiotics and draining (via bronchoscopy).
Hope your dad is ok, OP.

If it was something like pneumonia then they would treat him straight away.
is the scan a CT scan. I’m sorry OP. My dad had non-smoker lung cancer if it does turn out to be that. It’s a cruel disease

I'm not a medic but a small mass shown on a colleagues chest ray, she had just been treated for cancer, they left it and said they would re X-ray in a month and then it had gone. They said it can be after an infection. Hope all goes okay for your dad

I have Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was diagnosed due to a mass in my chest, which was over my lung but not inside it. They originally thought it was lung cancer. So, could it be his lymphoma? Or something connected? I hope you find out soon

A relative of mine had a mass on their lung, it turned out to be a deep infection, only diagnosed when they went in for surgery. I hope your Dad's OK.

No answers but handhold for you, OP. I hope everything comes back clear and nothing to worry about.

Hi OP, I had to have a CT scan last week because they spotted something in my lung on a recent X-ray. Mine turned out to be calcium on my rib. The relief was unbelievable.

It’s such a scary time, I feel for you all. If it helps, they told me the results would be two weeks and in the end my GP gave them to me later in the same day.

Sending hope x

A friend had lung cancer and was in remission, then had a chest X-ray a few years later. They assumed it was lung cancer again and removed it immediately but it turned out to be a form of tuberculosis! Didn't need any further treatment.

Fingers crossed it's not cancer - the wait is so stressful x

Thank you and I hope your aunt's results are as good as they can be x

Sorry about your dad @DGPP. It does seem so unfair.

It could well be his NHL.
or infection.

It could be but he had a check for that recently. It was his spleen that was enlarged, that's how the lymphoma was found last year, then it was also in his blood/bone but not elsewhere that I know of.
How are you doing, was treatment successful? All the best xx

Thank you, I'm still having chemo and finding it tough but almost finished. Fingers crossed I'll be all better in the new year

I don't know if it makes sense to hope it's NHL rather than lung cancer but he's already had successful treatment for the NHL (not to cure but to bring it down to manageable levels) so it feels like that wouldn't be the end of the world. But he had a check up for that a couple of months ago. They could have missed it I suppose.

Thank you to everyone who's taken time to respond. I know nobody can tell me what it is, I just wanted to hear if anyone had experience of less awful reasons for a mass like this.
So sorry to those who have had bad news like this for themselves or family. xx

I'll cross my fingers too. Chemo must be awful but I believe it can be pretty effective for NHL. Glad you're almost done with it.

He's having his CT scan just now, pretty much. Think we're hoping it's an infection. I'll try to update in case that's helpful for anyone else who finds this.

Hope the scan goes well for him OP and that you get good news 💐

Dh had this and it was a deep rooted infection. I thought cancer tbh.

I hope the scan goes well OP. As pps have said , there are several different things that it could be .

I suppose an infection could also cause breathlessness and coughing, couldn't it.

Four months on and finally updating.

The CT scan showed a lymph node enlarged in my dad’s right lung, towards the centre. Then there was an endoscopy. It feels like a while ago now so I’m trying to remember. It wasn’t until the very end of December that he was told the diagnosis of high grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He already had the low grade condition, as I said upthread. The consultant was relieved as this was a better outcome than lung cancer. However this was a fast growing form of NHL that he wouldn’t survive without treatment. Chemo in the form of R-CHOP was to begin within a couple of weeks. Pretty breathless at this point due to the mass and it was affecting swallowing - pressing on his oesophagus.

Unfortunately he then became really quite ill at the beginning of January, was admitted to hospital cancer centre where it turned out he had pneumonia. That was awful. He recovered and started chemo, now halfway through , will finish mid-May.

Looking better already, not coughing, going out for walks every day, walked up a hill today even. Appetite is good. He’s lost a fair bit of hair and gets tired, especially depending where he is in the chemo cycle.

So that’s the update, thanks to all those who commented. Best wishes to those who are also battling this disease, and their families 💐

Good to hear your relatively positive update; hope it continues.