PET & SPECT Nuclear Imaging for Cancer

Advanced Nuclear Imaging Exams

Positron emission tomography (PET) — a type of nuclear medicine — is a highly specialized branch of radiology that uses state-of-the-art cameras and radioactive material. In low doses, PET can diagnose conditions.

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is another type of nuclear medicine that Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) specialists use to diagnose cancer. PET and SPECT combine functional nuclear medicine images with anatomic images provided by CT scan. Providers use PET and SPECT to diagnose and treat certain types of cancers.

What does this mean for you? It means that when you come to our Cancer Center for care — or just for answers — you have access to the latest technology available. This translates into the quickest answers and best care for you and your loved ones.

How Nuclear Therapy Works

In conventional X-ray and CT exams, the imaging machine releases low doses of radiation that pass through your body. With nuclear medicine imaging, radiologists use the opposite approach by introducing low-dose radioactive material (usually by injection).

From there, state-of-the-art cameras detect the radioactive material, which produce digital images of your body. Within a few hours of completing an exam, the imaging team transfers the images to high-resolution video monitors and reviews them.

Understanding Nuclear Oncology

Many cancers use more glucose (sugar) than most normal tissues. The nuclear medicine doctor can take advantage of this by injecting glucose with a small amount of radioactivity attached to the glucose molecule. The doctor then uses the PET scanner to get images of how glucose metabolism spreads throughout the body.

The amount of glucose that tissues in the body use provides information to help guide further diagnostic and therapeutic options. In addition to using radioactive sugar (Fludeoxyglucose F18, or FDG) for PET imaging, providers at BIDMC use other radiotracers in PET and CT exams for imaging neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer.

Your oncologist (cancer doctor) can use the results of the PET scan to help determine whether an area in your body is cancerous. PET scans are most effective in identifying larger tumors. Your oncologist also can use a PET scan to stage (grade) the cancer, or to see if a cancer treatment is working.

Sentinel Node Biopsy

Your doctor can use a sentinel node biopsy to learn if cancer has spread. During a biopsy, your doctor removes a small tissue sample and sends it to the lab for close analysis.