I am at very high risk for lung cancer. a noncalcified nodule showed up on screening ct. scared to wait the 3 months for next ct. what else can i do?

Risk for cancer: You want to make sure you are a non smoker- you don't smoke and make sure that you are not exposed to 2nd hand smoke. Eat a healthy diet with leafy green vegetables and get enough sleep and exercise. Do not take extra vitamins.

See Lung Specialist: A non-invasive test like a sputum cytology could be done to look for cancer cells in you sputum. Also, blood test for some infections disease may yield some information but less likely due to non-calcified nature. You might also scour for some previous chest x-rays to see if the lesion was present previously. A second opinion may also be appropriate in this situation.

It depends: It depends on the size and configuration of the nodule. Who did you see? A pulmonologist? A thoracic surgeon? Some nodules can be ignored, if they are very small, say 3-4mm or less. Those that are larger might be considered indeterminate and can be followed. Some just need to come out. There are guidelines to help with management, devloped by the accp and the fleishner society.

Depends: 1. Quit smoking 2. If the nodule is greater than 0.7cm, consider getting a pet scan.

Some good data: Few with positive screens end up with cancer - just to put it in perspective. We need more data, but a quick read of this review suggests that even a positive rarely is associated with cancer.. http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/74509.pdf.

Need to know: smoking status; size of nodule. If this is your first CT, it is called a prevalence scan. I'll bet the "nodule" is less than 5 mm. NLST and I-ELCAP find that only 1 in 10 of these and larger in former smokers are cancer. Younger female non-smokers have some chance of a "genetic cancer". Many view intervention now has more risk than gain. If it were me, I would wait the 3 months and re-scan.

What is nodule size?: What makes you "very high risk"? What to do instead of waiting? Nothing. Trust the screening process. In screening studies10% of everyone screened has a non-calcified nodule but only 1% will have a lung cancer. Small nodules (> benefit