Positron Emission Tomography Scan also known as PET scan is a type of scan, which shows how body tissues work and look like. This tyoe of scan has been developed in the 1970s. PET scanning machines are very expensive. Only a few hospitals have this kind of scanner. It may mean that you have to travel to another hospital for your scan. However, not everybody who has cancer will need to have a PET scan. There are other types of tests and scans, which may be more suitable to their needs. PET scans can diagnose and stage many types of cancer. But there is a lack of high quality research into how well it works for certain types of cancer. A PET scan can help to show whether a lump is a cancer or not, or whether a cancer has spread or metastasized to other parts of the body. It can also show how well chemotherapy is working and the difference between scar tissue and active cancer tissue. Thus, it may even help to show up a cancer, stage a cancer, or decide the best treatment for a cancer. An example is a lung cancer, PET scans are sometimes used to find a cancer in the lymph nodes at the center of the chest. This is such a big help for a specialist to decide whether to peform a surgery to remove the cancer or not.

Preparations prior to PET scanning For some PET scans, the patient should not eat anything for 4 to 6 hours before your appointment time and only drink water. However, there are other PET scanning that do not need any preparation at all. Procedures The patient shall be injected with a very small amount of radioactive drug, which will serve as the tracer. The amount of radiation is so small, not more than the amount a patient can get duirng a normal x-ray process. Such radiation only stays in the body for a few hours. The radioactive drugs will travel to particular parts of the body depending on what drug the patient has. The most common drug being used in PET scanning is fluorine 18, also known as FDG-18. it is a radioactive version of glucose. When FDG-18 is injected into the patient’s body it travels to places where glucose is used for energy. It shows up cancers because they use glucose in a different way from normal tissue. Moreover, it will show up changes in tissues that use glucose as their main source of energy, one example is the brain. The patient shall rest for about an hour after the injection. With this, the radioactive tracer spreads through the body. The scanning iutself may take up to an hour. The scan produces an image of the radioactive tracer in the body. It is necessary that the patient lie down as still as possible while the scan is being done. It should not be at all painful. If the patient feels unwell, an attendant is ready to assist or attend to the patient’s needs. There are no side effects on this type of scan. PET scans are very safe. Though the patient has radioactive injection but this is a small amount and it decays very quickly. Words of precautions from the medical doctors tell that PET scan patients should not have close contact with pregnant women, babies and young children for a few hours after their scan. If the mother is breast feeding, she has to express enough milk beforehand to get the baby through in the first 6 hours after the scan. Not because of the readition in the milk but because the mother should be away from the babay for 24 hours. Albeit it is safe to get someone else to feed the baby for 24 hours.