PET in the diagnosis of cancer is :
1. Early diagnosis and benign tumors, malignant identification. One of the important features of tumor tissue is the rapid growth, metabolism, particularly glucose glycolysis rate increased. Therefore, early diagnosis of malignant tumor metabolic imaging is the most sensitive methods. Single pulmonary nodule is found, PET showed significantly active metabolites, the tips of malignant lesions. If there is no increase in metabolic performance, the possibility of benign disease prompted a large, surgery is necessary to carefully select.
2. Determine the various types of malignant tumor stage and grade. PET imaging can be a whole body CT, which is the other imaging devices can not be realized. In addition to the primary site of disease that can also be found in all parts of the body organs and bone marrow and soft tissue lesions per shift, on the tumor stage is very helpful, and provide accurate puncture or biopsy of the site to assist clinicians to develop the best treatment program.
3. Treatment assessment and prognosis. The efficacy of various cancer treatment and to assess the prognosis and guide further treatment.
4. PET can be residual or recurrent tumor after treatment for early diagnosis and after treatment fibrosis and necrosis were identified, but also with the distribution of lesions after treatment re-staging, CT and MRI images and other means of structural information is based difficult to do this.
5. The primary focus of the search for cancer. The rapid adoption of PET-CT whole body scans for metastatic tumors of unknown cause to find the primary lesion.
PET in cancer diagnosis of , 6. radiotherapy biological target positioning. Help radiotherapy practitioners outlining biological target. For example, in lung cancer with atelectasis and other cases, radiation therapy division is difficult to judge the actual boundary of the tumor, PET will help determine the scope of metabolically active lesions, for radiation therapy (especially precision radiotherapy) provide a more reasonable and accurate positioning, reduce the adverse effects of treatment.