PET/CT: The golden key in the fight against cancer

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Dinh Van Thuyet - Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.

In the fight against cancer, early diagnosis, accurate assessment of disease stage and monitoring of treatment effectiveness are vital. PET/CT plays a decisive role in the accurate diagnosis of the disease and helps to provide the most effective treatment plan for each patient. Therefore, treatment facilities possessing this state-of-the-art diagnostic tool will be a reliable address for cancer patients to come for examination and treatment.

1. Advantages of PET/CT

PET/CT has been known in Vietnam since the 2010s and is considered by experts as a "crush" of cancer. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, 43 years old, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, underwent surgery at a hospital in Hanoi and has a good response to treatment.
By March 2018, when I went to have a PET/CT scan at Vinmec to check my condition, there were lesions in the dome area and many metastatic lesions in the cervical lymph nodes and lung parenchyma. He was biopsied, found to have primary nasopharyngeal cancer. After continuing treatment for 6 months, Mr. Nam had a PET/CT scan and found that the dome lesions and metastases had almost completely disappeared.
Up to now, Mr. Nam's health has stabilized. Periodic PET/CT checks have not found any new lesions. Thus, PET/CT has helped doctors accurately detect new cancerous lesions that are easily missed by other means. In this case, PET/CT provided useful information to properly assess the stage of the disease, making a significant contribution to successful treatment.

In addition, PET/CT has the ability to accurately detect metastatic lymph nodes and metastases in other locations on the body with high confidence. As a result, oncologists can accurately assess the stage of the disease, then offer the most appropriate treatment for each patient based on the treatment guidelines of the world's leading cancer organizations. world such as the US, Europe, Japan ...
Unlike other imaging methods based on anatomical images, PET/CT diagnosis is based on the metabolism of tissues and cells, so it can diagnose very well. Some types of cancer early such as: Lymphoma, lung cancer ... Patients diagnosed early have a very good prognosis after treatment, some patients can be considered as a complete break with cancer. .

2. PET/CT scan at Vinmec Times City International Hospital

In the past, when PET/CT was not available, for some cancers like lymphoma, doctors could usually only assess the effectiveness of treatment after a patient had completed a course of chemotherapy. But now it is possible to evaluate the early treatment response after a number of treatment cycles to adjust or change the treatment regimen accordingly.
Vinmec Times City International General Hospital is equipped with the US PET/CT GE Discovery MIDR system with 128-array CT - one of the most advanced PET/CT systems in the world. The advantage of this system allows displaying images with high resolution, while significantly reducing radiation dose for patients.
Since being put into use until now, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital has performed thousands of PET/CT scans to help diagnose, stage disease and monitor treatment response for almost all patients. All types of cancer such as lung, liver, stomach, breast, bone, lymph node cancer... PET/CT has become an effective and indispensable assistant, the "key to solve the problem" of the daily life of the doctors. cancer doctor.

3. New applications of PET/CT in cancer diagnosis

In order to fully exploit the strengths of PET/CT, Vinmec will continue to apply simulated PET/CT images, dose-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning with a controlled linear accelerator. cancer treatment. In the world, only developed countries can apply this technique.
The presence of PET/CT has completed the "set" of advanced weapons with full capacity for cancer diagnosis and treatment of Vinmec Hospital. Vinmec is the first medical facility in Vietnam to own many leading advanced equipment in cancer diagnosis and treatment such as SPECT/CT Discovery NM/CT 670 Pro System, Invenia TM ABUS 3D breast ultrasound machine. ; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 3.0 Tesla Silent technology; Aquilion One computer tomography scanner with 640 slices, high-end endoscopic equipment CV - 190/CLV-190...
Along with the state-of-the-art imaging system, Vinmec has approached cancer treatment methods Advanced mail (robot surgery, high-tech radiotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, autologous immunotherapy ..).
With the companionship of the University of Pennsylvania - Top 8 leading universities in the US, Vinmec is building a Center of Excellence in Oncology, comprehensive development of expertise, scientific research, human resources and operating according to the standards. The highest standards in the world are applied in the US.

With the comprehensive and advanced cancer approach at Vinmec, patients can safely experience the gentle and effective treatment process with the world's most modern facilities without having to travel to many places or go abroad.
Customers can go directly to Vinmec Times City to visit or contact hotline 0243 9743 556 for support.

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Meaning of PET/CT Scan What cancers are PET/CT scans indicated for? Frequently asked questions about PET/CT at Vinmec Times City