A study by Dr. Julie K. Schwarz, a Barnes-Jewish Hospital resident in the department of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis and colleagues has determined that whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) scans done 3 months after completion of therapy can tell if cervical cancer patients are cancer-free or require further treatment.
It is difficult to determine if treatment for cervical cancer has worked since small tumors are hard to detect and obvious symptoms, such as leg swelling, do not occur until there has been significant growth of the tumor.
However, the study found that cervical cancer tumors glow brightly in FDG-PET scans. The scans detect emissions of radioactively tagged blood sugar and tumor tissue traps more of this glucose than does normal tissue.
"This is the first time we can say that we have a reliable test to follow cervical cancer patients after therapy," Schwarz said in a prepared statement. "We ask them to come back for a follow-up visit about three months after treatment is finished, and we perform a PET scan. If the scan shows a complete response to treatment, we can say with confidence that they are doing to do extremely well."
The complete study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Ass.
Comment Preview