How PET/CT Can Help
PET/CT changes the management in one out of three patients. In addition to detecting disease earlier, PET/CT will determine the extent of disease and the effectiveness of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery. As well, PET/CT scanning allows early detection of the recurrence of cancer, revealing tumors that might otherwise be obscured by scar tissue which can result from surgery and radiation therapy.
- Diagnosis
- Clarify presence or absence of disease
- Avoid invasive biopsy
- Replace multiple diagnostic studies
- Assist in determining optimal anatomic localization prior to invasive diagnostic procedures
- Staging work-up prior to initiation of treatment
- Evaluate the extent of local, regional and distant disease with a single, whole-body examination
- Establish baseline size and SUV measurements against which future studies may be compared
- Determine appropriate course of treatment through more accurate initial evaluation
- Quantify maxSUV of primary tumor site to assess aggressiveness of the tumor
- Treatment monitoring during cancer treatment
- Discover patients who are unresponsive to therapy sooner, allowing for earlier initiation of potentially more effective treatment
- Identify early metabolic responders, strengthening patient resolve to complete difficult treatments
- Save costs, toxicities, and lost treatment time associated with ineffective treatment
- Restaging to evaluate effectiveness of treatment delivered
- 4 weeks after chemotherapy
- 6 weeks after radiation therapy
- 6 weeks after surgery
- Detection of recurrence
- Differentiate between residual cancer and post-treatment scarring
- Discriminate between residual masses and active disease
- Discover recurrence sooner when it may be managed locally
