Can Left-side Lung Cancer Spread To The Other Lung?

Posted on Fri, 26 Jan 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 Answered on

Thu, 26 Jul 2018 Last reviewed on

Question : Can left lung cancer spread to the right lung without setting up camp in other areas of the body. If so, how common is this? My husbands PET SCAN and Brain MRI are clear, but there is a small node on the right lung that hasn't changed in size since November, but it appears to produce a lot of mucous with a cough. He has been on a round of antibiotics that didn't help. They want to try another round of antibiotics. He doesn't have a fever. What are the chances that the cancer has spread to this lung and it isn't an infection.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes that's possible

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

I understand your husband has undergone lobectomy for left lung cancer and is now on Chemotherapy. Recent scans have showed a right lung nodule which is persisting from before and he is having cough with expectoration. You have not provided the detailed history and recentmost scan report hence this is what I could gather from your previous queries and current description.

This can be due to cancer spread but possibility is quite low, considering the original stage and baseline scans. Around 5-10% approximately. Most likely it is due to infection. If it's not responding then I would recommend a bronchoscopy to have a closer look and also get the microbial studies.

Hope this helps.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar