It has a significant impact on the management of the disease. Conti thinks that acceptance by the federal Health Care Finance Administration is definitely a sign that PET technology is on its way to wider use. It will also hopefully bring quicker reviews by private insurers, as well as speed Medicare approval of clinical PET scans for other types of cancer. PET works by providing a dynamic image of the body's interior. Instead of taking a picture of the bones, like an X-ray, or the internal organs and soft tissue, like a MRI, PET lets doctors visualize the body's metabolism.
Cells use the simple sugar glucose as a source of energy.
By tracking how much glucose is metabolized in different areas of the body, PET enables physicians to map the body's use of the fuel. In order to see the glucose, nuclear medicine physicians attach radioactive tracers to a chemical cousin of glucose. When the mix is injected in a patient, the scanner and computer work together to create an image. Because cancer cells are dividing rapidly, they break down glucose at a much higher rate than most normal cells and the increased activity can show up on a scan. In this way, doctors can see both primary and metastatic tumors.