Should I be concerned about the rectal mass in my grandfather's computed tomography (CT) reports?

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. I have gone through the attached CT (computed tomography) report (attachment removed to protect the patient's identity) of your grandfather meticulously. I understand that the whole family is in anxiety over the mention of cancer. At the same time, I would also try to give you some information that may help you feel a bit reassured since you have not uploaded the CT images, which I could have seen nor asked any specific questions. So I will just go over the report's points for your easier understanding.

1) The rectal lesion mentioned may be cancer (unless proven otherwise by biopsy). The report mentions that there is no surrounding fat thickening, which is a big relief in case of cancer. It means that cancer may not have invaded the surroundings yet and may thus be treatable. However, even if the biopsy (a minimally invasive procedure) shows that it is not cancer, your concerned doctors may still determine that it requires surgery. So, suppose surgery has to be done. It may involve a colostomy, which refers to diverting the bowel through the abdominal wall, and the feces would deposit in a "colostomy bag" attached to the abdominal wall on the outside. I suggest you would need to discuss the handling of the colostomy bag with your surgeon when you reach this stage.

2) Other than the rectal mass, the patient has multiple outpouchings (called diverticula) in different parts of the colon and multiple cysts in both kidneys. Both are benign conditions and are not cancerous, and both may be due to the aging process or maybe disease. And any of them may be the cause of the patient's history of abdominal pain.

I do not think the cysts (2 cm and 3.5 cm) require any intervention, but your surgeons may decide whether to take them out or leave them there. So, overall, the patient is still quite in a treatable stage of disease and perhaps weakened by age.

I hope the above information will give you some insight and alleviate your worries. If you desire to have a review of the CT scan, you can upload the full CT images from DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine), and I will be happy to answer the follow-up.

Thank you.