Imagine a machine that can detect cancer before the cells have had time to form into a tumor. Imagine being able to tell if a tumor is benign or malignant without invasive procedures. Imagine knowing for certain whether or not cancer has spread. Imagine being able to view all organ systems in the body with a single non-invasive exam.

This remarkable machine is here today at EPIC Imaging’s Portland PET Center. Positron Emission Tomography or PET is the lifesaving advance of metabolic imaging and a new foundation of hope for scores of cancer patients.

In the late 19th century, the birth of the X-ray propelled medicine into a new exploration of human form. The perfection of PET in the late 20th century has begun an equally dramatic revolution in diagnostic imaging—the visualization of disease function. Put simply, we now have a powerful tool to diagnose, stage and treat cancer before it has progressed to a form detectable by MRI, CT or other diagnostic imaging tools.

What X-ray, MR and CT are to anatomical form, whole body PET is to human function. PET provides diagnostic potential beyond other imaging technologies through its unique ability to visualize disease function at its most basic cellular level.

New hope for the earliest possible detection of cancer and brain disorder is now a reality. For the first time, through non-invasive means, we have a safe, single-procedure method to capture the answers patients and their physicians need to develop optimal treatment strategies.

The science of PET revolves around a highly refined technology yielding full body, three dimensional images captured with the aid of a continuous circular ring of stationary detectors. Put simply, PET is the window into the chemical changes that signal the birth of disease. It utilizes safe, short-lived radiopharmaceuticals that serve as glucose tracers. Because cancer cells are highly metabolic and use more glucose than surrounding cells, they are easily seen on the PET scan. Significantly, these chemical changes occur in the body well before visible signs of disease (like tumors) are present on MRI or CT images.

PET procedures are still not as common as MRI or CT. This is due in part to an initial lag in insurance reimbursement for some procedures, though great progress continues to be made in this area. In December of 2000, the US HealthCare and Financing Agency (HCFA) expanded coverage of PET procedures to include lung, colorectal, lymphoma, melanoma, head and neck, and esophageal cancers. In doing so, the agency sited that PET can often pinpoint disease in a single scan eliminating the need for redundant tests and even surgical procedures.

HCFA also recently approved PET for the pivotal application of re-staging cancers. “Staging” refers to how a physician evaluates the extent of a disease and the strategy to combat it. “Re-staging” is common following treatment of cancer or the diagnosis of a recurrence. With the new HCFA approval, now if a cancer is in doubt after a standard work up, PET can be used for re-staging the disease or following the completion of therapy.

Equally as exciting is the great promise PET has demonstrated in earlier detection of ovarian and breast cancer. The breast cancer scan is called Positron Emission Mammography. This exciting procedure could substantially decrease the number of breast biopsy studies performed each year.

For more information on the revolution of PET Imaging, click on technology, ask your doctor or visit these other helpful sites.

UCLA Department of Medical & Molecular Pharmacology www.nuc.ucla.edu

CTI www.cti-pet.com