Clinical Applications of PET

In oncology, PET is helping detect tumors at their earliest, most treatable stage. PET captures tumor cells "in action," making it a valuable tool for the clinical evaluation of patients with various cancers, including head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Since PET images biochemical activity, it can accurately predict whether a tumor is benign or malignant, thereby avoiding surgical biopsy when a PET scan is negative. PET is also used to determine the stage of cancer accurately and evaluate the effectiveness of cancer therapy and medication.

PET's impact can be felt in other fields, as well. In cardiology, it has advanced from primarily a research tool to a practical, high-performance method of noninvasively evaluating many aspects of cardiac disease. Myocardial perfusion PET imaging is an option for all patients requiring stress perfusion imaging and holds special benefit for obese patients and patients with previous nondiagnostic tests. Cardiac PET is also arguably considered the "gold standard" in selecting patients with coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction who would benefit from coronary artery revascularization.

Perhaps the most exciting application of PET is in neuroradiology, where the technology has demonstrated diagnostic and prognostic use in evaluating patients with cognitive impairment. Specifically, it has shown an ability to distinguish among primary neurodegenerative dementias and other causes of cognitive decline. Such early detection and confirmation of Alzheimer's represents a significant opportunity to impact the course of the disease: Early drug therapy can slow the loss of the patient's ability to function and future planning can occur before the loss of mental capacity.