Does stenting lead to an increase in SUV during PET scan?

Hello everyone,

My mom had a stent placed in Jan, and she has been on Gemox (gemcitabine and Oxalyplatin) for 3 months now. We just got a PET scan done, and the SUV is 4.4 in the area where the tumor was located. The stent was placed in the same area. Our last PET scan was in october 2007, before stenting and bypass surgery, and the SUV where the tumor was found was only 1.

Is it possible that metabolic activity increases after stenting? Doctors say it is possible since a foreign object (stent) is in place and metabolic activity would increase, but they still can’t say if the increase in SUV (specific uptake value) and the metabolic activity is due to stenting or due to growth in cancer. We don’t really know if the chemo is working, the original mass was only 2cms X 2cms (fibrous growth and not the mass forming type) and that the lesion cant be seen in PET scan cause of placement of the stent. So we don’t really know if the tumor has regressed or if chemo is working at all. There is no mets or lesions anywhere else, and no obvious mass can be seen. She is fine now, and not showing any symptoms and is tolerating chemo well. We are so confused as to what’s happening, it’s such a terrible feeling and don’t know what can happen next.