Question 1

how do pet scans work? my wife is scheduled for a pet scan and i was wondering how it works.  is this a good test relative to the other kinds of tests you can do? is it accurate? do you know how long it usually takes to get the results back?

Accepted Answer

PET : Pet scans work by detecting areas of high metabolic activity in the body and producing a three-dimensional image that reflects functional processes.  It is considered a very good test relative to other kinds of imaging tests, and is very accurate for certain indications. Common indications include the diagnosis, staging, and re-staging of certain cancers such as non small cell lung cancer, lymphoma, and melanoma. It is also used to evaluate treatment response in certain cancers such as breast cancer. Sometimes it is used for problem solving when other tests were inconclusive. The nuclear medicine physician or radiologist, who is a doctor who specializes in diagnostic imaging, will usually interpret the study on the day that it is performed or the day after. The results should be available for your doctor who ordered the test to review by the following day. Contact your doctor a day or two after the test to review the results with you.

Question 2

how does pet scans work when detecting possible lymphoma? does "hot spots" mean malignancy?

Accepted Answer

No: A hot spot means an area of increased sugar utilization. Can be inflammatory, infectious or malignant.

Question 3

my husband has a melanoma on the right side of his stomach. blood work, x-ray and pet scan are normal. does that mean it is not nessery for a node biopsy?

Accepted Answer

It depends/excision.: It really depends on whether or not you have palpable/feelable lymph nodes on his physical exam.  If not, i don't think lymph node bioopsy is needed.  However, the melanoma itself should be removed with wide excision to determine its type and spread.  This is important because it determines what kind of therapy you will likely get.

Question 4

mri reveled mass in ribs/thoracic. dr ordered pet scan and blood work. why not biopsy first? does this mean cancer is definite?

Accepted Answer

Mass: Au contraire, your doctor is trying to save you from an invasive procedure and determine if the biopsy is necessary. The other tests are necessary before proceeeding, follow their advice.

Question 5

what does a pet scan with cancer look like?

Accepted Answer

Bright spots: Areas of tumor tend to pick up the labeled compound and show up as foci of increased activity either bright or dark spots depending how the image is displayed.

Question 6

what does a pet scan from skull to thigh cover?

Accepted Answer

pet: Images from the skull to the thigh.

Question 7

what does a pet scan for leukemia show? since leukemia is in the blood, does it show cancer cells spread all over your body or does it show the cells concentrated in certain areas?

Accepted Answer

While : While pet imaging is commonly used for staging and restaging of lymphoma, pet imaging is not in widespread clinical use in the diagnosis or staging of leukemia. This is partly due to the diffuse nature of leukemia compared to the more focal findings characteristic of lymphoma. However, there are likely many ongoing research studies looking at pet imaging in leukemia, and patients with leukemia may choose to be enrolled in such a study if available. This could potentially benefit patients with leukemia in the future. There is some evidence, in at least one published report of two cases, that pet scans show diffusely increased uptake in the bone marrow of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (cml). Follow-up pet scans after treatment showed reduced bone marrow uptake in these two patients.

Question 8

radiology
does a pet scan have a much better chance of picking up a central lung cancer if it was missed at ldct? 
thank you

Accepted Answer

LDCT is a : noncontrast lung nodule screening study, and it is possible that small central lesions may not be visualized due to proximity to normal blood vessels or other structures.  PET is extremely sensitive, but if a diagnostic contrast enhanced CT scan with thinner collimation and higher resolution is negative, probably unnecessary.

Question 9

what does a pet scan of my esophageal cancer show that a ct scan doesn't?

Accepted Answer

Metabolic activity: Pet/ct scans are used in staging cancers-figuring out whether and how far a tumor has spread.  While a ct scan shows anatomy (where things are), a pet scan uses fluorescent labeled sugar molecules to show cells that have an increased activity.  Cells with a higher metabolic rate like cancer cells are more likely to show up.  Benign conditions such as inflammation and infection will also light up.

Question 10

what is a pet scan?

Accepted Answer

Sophisticated: Positron emission tomography----a pet scan is a very sophisticated scan of the body using injected radio-isotopic materials that are taken up by different body tissues and when scanned "light up" to help determine, usually, if there is cancer.  It has other purposes.

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Doctor answers about:

How does a pet scan work

A member asked:

How do pet scans work? my wife is scheduled for a pet scan and i was wondering how it works. is this a good test relative to the other kinds of tests you can do? is it accurate? do you know how long it usually takes to get the results back?

A member asked:

How does pet scans work when detecting possible lymphoma? does "hot spots" mean malignancy?

A member asked:

My husband has a melanoma on the right side of his stomach. blood work, x-ray and pet scan are normal. does that mean it is not nessery for a node biopsy?

A member asked:

Mri reveled mass in ribs/thoracic. dr ordered pet scan and blood work. why not biopsy first? does this mean cancer is definite?

A member asked:

What does a pet scan with cancer look like?

A member asked:

What does a pet scan from skull to thigh cover?

A member asked:

What does a pet scan for leukemia show? since leukemia is in the blood, does it show cancer cells spread all over your body or does it show the cells concentrated in certain areas?

A member asked:

Radiology does a pet scan have a much better chance of picking up a central lung cancer if it was missed at ldct? thank you

A member asked:

What does a pet scan of my esophageal cancer show that a ct scan doesn't?

A member asked:

What is a pet scan?

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