PET Imaging Staging For Early Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PET Imaging Provides Accurate Staging For Early Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

PET (positron emission tomography) imaging can accurately stage early non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and demonstrate microscopic metastases (spread) that CT (computed tomography) may miss.

This is the finding of a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC which found that PET correctly staged this type of lung cancer in 80% of the patients.

The study was presented May 12 at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society in New Orleans, LA.

"There remains no consistent work-up for staging early NSCLC, and this study may prove helpful for many patients", said Ned Patz, MD, professor of radiology and study chair from Duke University Medical Center.

This valuable information helps in determining the course of treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, Dr. Patz said. With the results of the PET study a more accurate, efficient and perhaps less intrusive plan of treatment can be set in place, he added.

A negative PET scan suggests that a medistinoscopy, an examination of the tissues and organs which separates the lungs by using a tubular instrument that can view this area, is unnecessary. This allows patients to proceed directly to have a thoracotomy, a procedure used for removing the primary tumor.

The American Roentgen Ray Society, with some 12,000 members, is the first and oldest radiological society in the United States. The society is dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the science of radiology.

##