What are the benefits and risks of a PET scan?

What are the benefits and risks of a PET scan?

There are many benefits to a PET scan. Today the most common trace is FDG PET. Right now, FDG is changing the way that we approach a patient with cancer. This is also supported all the way by the National Institute of Health who is really interested in having PET scans, FDG PET scans, inserted into the algorithm of patient care and diagnosis. We are able to detect cancer more accurately, to stage it more accurately, and to more accurately determine if a treatment is working or not and subsequently change treatment if necessary. Also, we are more accurate in stating if the patient is going to do well or not do well with their specific type of cancer or treatment. Those are the major benefits of a PET scan. As far as their risks are concerned, their risks are very similar to general nuclear medicine techniques. They are very, very small. In fact, they are smaller probably because the radio tracers that are used in PET have a very, very short half life. F18, which is used in FDG, actually has one of the longer half lives which is only two hours, compared to general nuclear medicine radio traced radionuclide's, for example Technetium-99m, which has a six hour half life. The risk of PET is essentially summarized by the radioactivity in the tracer, and that is very small.