I had a thing in the bottom chamber of my lung since about 1996. After tested with a needle, they only remove some liquid, that I was told was sludge. And we decieded to do xrays yearly. Now after an xray this year, my doctor told me we need a cat scan, because the tumor is growing. I was shocked and could not ask any questions. Is it possible that after this many years of checking and never told that it was a tumor, that in one year it could develop into a tumor (fibroid), and can it now become cancerous. I am female and now 61, and extremely shocked to learn this now. Thanks Maxine ps did not realize that I had to pay, no credit cards.
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your situation and problem. In my opinion you should consult pulmonologist and get done either fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or transthoracic lung biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. For the diagnosis of cancer, tissue sampling and its microscopic examination is must.  Without this, one can not stamp the diagnosis of cancer. PET scan can be false positive in infection. So only on the basis of PET scan, cancer is not confirmed. And you are having this opacity since 15-16 years. So less likely to be due to cancer. It must be chronic infection like fungal or tuberculosis. So better to consult pulmonologist and get done either FNAC or biopsy to get the tissue diagnosis.