Source: www.healthimaging.com Author: staff An article published in the March issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine reports on the methodologies for conducting economic evaluations of PET and PET/CT in oncologic applications, suggesting that PET and PET/CT are cost effective for staging of non–small cell lung cancer, differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules, restaging of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the restaging of colorectal carcinoma. Healthcare systems globally have recently approved reimbursement for PET and PET/CT for staging of non-small cell lung cancer and differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules because PET and PET/CT have been found to be cost-effective for those uses, according to Andreas K. Buck, MD from Nuklearmedizinische Klinik und Poliklinik in München, Germany, and colleagues. Additional indications that are covered by healthcare systems in the U.S. and several European countries include staging of gastrointestinal tract cancers, breast cancer, malignant lymphoma, melanoma, and head and neck cancers, added Buck and colleagues. PET and PET/CT are highly sensitive diagnostic tests to screen for metastatic tumor deposits in the entire body that may be missed by standard imaging modalities. On a patient basis, costs for PET and PET/CT are decreasing with the increasing numbers of examinations performed, noted Buck and colleagues. In Germany, “costs per examination range between approximately € 600 ($885 U.S.) and €1,000 ($1,474 U.S.); the amount for production and delivery of radiopharmaceuticals is approximately €180–€ 260 ($265–$383 U.S.) per scan.” In Great Britain, costs range from £635–£1,300 ($1,030– $2,109 U.S.) for PET. In Europe, reimbursement [...]