High-tech PET Scan can 'see' cancer better

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was consulted with Master, Doctor Nguyen Quang Duc - Doctor of Nuclear Medicine - Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine - Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.

1. What is the PET/CT scan for?

Positron emission tomography (PET) has become a nuclear imaging method that has been shown to be particularly useful in cancer diagnosis. Initially, PET was applied to neurology and cardiology as a valuable research tool. Later, researchers realized that PET could also be a powerful tool in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The US health plan (Medicare) approves PET to be indicated in the following cases:
● Non-small cell lung cancer;
Malignant tumor ;
● Lymphoma;
Isolated pulmonary nodule;
Breast cancer ;
Colorectal cancer ;
Esophageal cancer ;
Head and neck cancer ;
Thyroid cancer ;
Cervical cancer .

Brain tumors; ● Ovarian cancer ;
● Uterine cancer;
Pancreatic cancer ;
Testicular cancer ;
● Small cell lung cancer;
Gastrointestinal stromal tumor;
Sarcoma;
● Hepatocellular carcinoma;
Cancer of the biliary tract ;
Tumor of unknown cause.
PET scan is a molecular diagnostic method that requires not only expensive equipment and PET/CT machines, but also highly trained staff.
Unlike computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which show anatomical detail, PET images show metabolism inside the body. Corrected by this, PET offers significant advantages over anatomical imaging modalities.
CT has long been the cornerstone of cancer imaging, but it is unlikely to reveal important differences in physiology. While PET has the ability to determine the metabolic activity of tissues, it needs the support of higher resolution anatomical information that it does not have.
CT is the easiest and highest resolution tomography method to correct and integrate into PET images. The combination of both techniques in one device is called PET/CT. This provides two perspectives on the same outcome for accurate diagnosis of multiple lesions.

2. High-tech PET Scan can 'see' cancer better

PET/CT scan is different from conventional CT scan because it has the ability to detect small, microscopic cancer cells when they are newly formed or left after treatment. More valuable than anatomical imaging for verifying that a suspected mass is indeed cancerous.
The principle of PET scan is as follows: cancer cells will use larger amounts of glucose than normal cells. That's why they glow brighter than normal cells. Thus, while CT can identify suspicious masses based on their size, PET can identify cancer masses based on their metabolism. The high-tech PET Scan provides more sophisticated information about tumors, detecting them by cell growth rate, how energy is burned, and the presence of certain receptors on cancer cells.
Researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute in East Melbourne, Australia used PET to test whether lung cancer patients in their study responded to treatment with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. are not. The results show that PET is better than CT in staging, providing important data for doctors to choose the right treatment, most suitable for their disease.
Doctors often treat non-small cell lung cancer with surgery when they think all of the cancer can be removed. That is, they don't think the cancer cells have spread or metastasized beyond the lungs. Because if the cancer cells have metastasized, surgery is not beneficial for the patient.

In another study from the Netherlands, PET scans were used to check the spread of lung cancer before patients had surgery. The researchers used PET to determine if it was possible to predict which patients would not benefit from surgery. Results showed that PET successfully reduced the number of useless surgeries for lung cancer by up to 50%.
PET Scan also helps researchers and doctors better understand how cancer develops. This allows the doctor to choose the most appropriate treatment, whether it is surgery, chemotherapy or newer methods. Based on PET Scan, doctors can also treat cancer patients with surgery in a more minimal and precise way.
Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital has become a leading prestigious address in disease screening with modern techniques, proud to be the first private hospital in Vietnam to deploy this technique. Modern and accurate diagnosis with the most modern 128-sequence PET/CT system in Southeast Asia, for accurate images and short scan time, the team of doctors are leading experts with high expertise and rich experience. Experience creates trust for customers when experiencing medical examination and treatment services at Vinmec.
References: webmd.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, technologynetworks.com
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