January 13, 2010 - Compared to computed tomography (CT), mammography and other commonly used tests, positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) scans of the whole body may more accurately detect cancer in individuals with related neurologic disorders, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the March print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Andrew McKeon, M.B., MRCPI, and colleagues at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., found paraneoplastic neurologic disorders occur in some people with cancer, including lung, breast or ovarian cancer, and may develop when cancer-fighting antibodies mistakenly attack cells in the nervous system. The researchers found that "patients with suspected paraneoplastic neurologic disorders, routine noninvasive oncologic evaluations may be unrevealing." The authors noted, "These standard evaluations include physical examination; computed tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen and pelvis; mammography in women; and testicular ultrasonography and prostate-specific antigen testing in men." Cancers underlying paraneoplastic neurologic disorders are typically small, restricted to one site and are often not detected until autopsy. The researchers studied cases of 56 patients with suspected paraneoplastic neurologic disorders whose standard evaluations (including CT) did not reveal cancer. All of them underwent PET-CT at Mayo Clinic between 2005 and 2008. Prior to undergoing PET/CT exams, the patients underwent a median of three other screening tests; the most common was CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. In 39 percent of the patients, PET/CT detected abnormalities suggestive of cancer, of whom 18 percent had cancer diagnoses confirmed by biopsy or another method. Nine of the 10 were early-stage cancers, and detection facilitated early treatment. Cancer remission was reported in seven patients and improvement in neurologic symptoms in five patients after a median (midpoint) of 11 months of follow-up. While the authors noted they recognize the limitations of PET/CT, they said, "We favor this modality for initial oncologic evaluation of patients in whom a paraneoplastic neurologic disorder is strongly suspected. Elimination of whole-body imaging with CT alone before further imaging with PET/CT could reduce radiation exposure and the total financial burden of testing." Reference: Arch Neurol. 2010;67(3)]: doi:10.1001/archneurol.2009.336. For more information: jama-archives.org and http://archneur.ama-assn.org


Related Content

News | PET-CT

June 19, 2025 — Building on a collaboration that spans more than three decades, GE HealthCare has renewed its research ...

Time June 19, 2025
arrow
News | Lung Imaging

April, 15, 2025 — Optellum has entered an agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to leverage AI in early diagnosis and ...

Time April 17, 2025
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

April 10, 2025 — Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare will form a strategic research program focused on driving ...

Time April 10, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

March 10, 2025 — Lunit, a provider of AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, has published a ...

Time March 10, 2025
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Feb. 5, 2025 — Serac Healthcare Ltd., a clinical radiopharmaceutical company developing an innovative molecular imaging ...

Time February 05, 2025
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

Dec. 3, 2024 — During RSNA '24, GE HealthCare announced the 510(k) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Dec. 2, 2024 — GE HealthCare has agreed to acquire full ownership of Nihon Medi-Physics Co., Ltd (NMP), by purchasing ...

Time December 05, 2024
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

At the annual AHRA (American Healthcare Radiology Administrators) conference in Orlando, Florida, Bayer announced an ...

Time August 09, 2024
arrow
Videos | Radiology Business

Find actionable insights to achieve sustainability and savings in radiology in this newest of ITN’s “One on One” video ...

Time July 30, 2024
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

July 29, 2024 — iCAD, Inc., a global leader in clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, announced a ...

Time July 29, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now