With October being Breast Care Awareness month in the United States, I thought it was an appropriate time to discuss how PET/CT may make a difference with improving the clinical treatment of breast cancer.
While the use of PET/CT is not currently indicated for diagnosing breast cancer, it can make a difference in the following areas:
• PET/CT accurately stages axillary and mammary lymph node involvement. Axillary lymph node dissection is currently a routine part of breast surgery, since it is the only way doctors who don’t know about PET have of staging breast cancer.
• PET/CT may detect distant metastasis resulting in more accurate treatment.
• PET/CT is also used to evaluate the response to therapy. Treatment can be altered, if necessary, for better results.
• PET/CT is also used when there is suspicion of recurrent disease. Finding recurrent cancer early prolongs lives and increases the chance of beating the disease.
(1) Source: Clinical Positron Imaging Journal, the official Journal of the Academy of Molecular Imaging, Vol 3, Number 5, Sept-Oct 2000.
How does PET work?
PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is a non-invasive diagnostic imaging procedure that identifies abnormal glucose (sugar) metabolism. Since certain cancer cells metabolize glucose more than normal cells, which often occurs before changes in anatomy, PET may identify the presence of disease earlier than other anatomic imaging techniques. As a result, PET may offer important information to aid in more effective treatment.
Along with Breast Cancer, PET/CT is considered particularly effective include lung, head and neck, colorectal, esophageal, lymphoma, melanoma, cervical, brain as well as other less-frequently occurring cancers.
Brian Madison
President, The HCS Group
