My son went to Hopkins yesterday. He found 3 other lymph nodes swollen in his groin in addition to the one in his neck. Chest x-ray is normal but set up a ct scan for Fri. My question is, can a chest x-ray be normal and still have a form of lymphoma?

The general answer is yes. I think that x-ray imaging lacks any ability to make a determination as to why a lymph node is swollen, it can only show the swollen tissue. When x-ray imaging is useful in cancer is when a picture shows a mass that has no business being there. Chest tumors of various sizes aren't uncommon in lymphoma so the fact that the x-ray didn't give up any visible tumors is probably a good sign, but not a good sign in the sense of 'maybe no lymphoma', more like 'if lymphoma is present, prognosis is better when there isn't a bulky mass.'

Thank you for your response. Well, I guess that the chest x-ray being clear is good news then. The next step is a ct scan on Friday of the abdomen and pelvis, I guess because of the lymph nodes that are enlarged in the groin. Pending those results, the dr wants to do an excisional biopsy of one or more of the nodes involved. I feel we are on the right track, or at least I hope we are. Would they do a biopsy even if the ct scan comes back ok or do they wait and see? Thank you.