Combined PET/CT Scanner Improves Treatment

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Tuesday, 15 January 2002

Clinicians at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) are now able to view cancer in a more precise way, with the installation of two cutting-edge combined PET/CT scanners.

The new technology enables doctors to more accurately detect cancer and pinpoint its exact location in the body. MSKCC is currently the only hospital in tri-state area with the new technology.

Positron emission tomography (PET) and computerized tomography (CT) are standard imaging tools that allow clinicians to pinpoint the location of cancer within the body before making treatment recommendations. The highly sensitive PET scan picks up the metabolic signal of actively growing cancer cells in the body, and the CT scan provides a detailed picture of the internal anatomy that reveals the size and shape of abnormal cancerous growths. Alone, each test has its limitations but when the results of the scans are fused together they provide the most complete information on cancer location and metabolism.

In the past, difficulties have arisen from trying to interpret the results of both tests together because patients often change their positions between tests. "The new combined PET/CT scan allows us to perform the tests simultaneously which leaves less room for error in interpreting test results," said Hedvig Hricak, M.D., Chairman of MSK's Department of Radiology. "Combining the two tests into one provides us with a more accurate picture of the location of the cancer."

Doctors predict that the improved images produced by the new scanners will reduce the number of invasive procedures required during follow-up care, including biopsies. The quality of the images gives clinicians more confidence in their ability to monitor patients' outcomes without having to perform unnecessary tests. In fact, images produced by the new scanners are so precise that in some cases they have found cancer that probably would not have been detected through any other non-invasive imaging exam. "I am confident that the new combined PET/CT scanners will play a key role in improving patient care," said Steven Larson, M.D., Chief of the Nuclear Medicine Service.

MSKCC has two PET/CT scanners valued at approximately $2.7 million dollars each. According to Dr. Larson, the new scanners will replace the individual PET scanner in the identification, staging, and monitoring of many types of cancer, the most common being lymphoma, melanoma, colorectal, head and neck, and esophageal cancers.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research and education in cancer. Our scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose and treat cancer. Our specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide.

For more information, or to contact Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, see their website at: www.mskcc.org