• 12/10/2004
  • no attribution
  • Malden Observer (townline.com)

PET/CT, the most advanced imaging equipment available for the detection and treatment of cancer, is now being offered through Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford, MA – or LMH – and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital – MWH. They are the only community hospitals within in a 20-mile radius outside of Boston to be approved for and offer PET/CT imaging. The PET/CT is located at Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford.

Previously offering the advanced PET scan at LMH, the new combined PET/CT fuses the PET scan with a CT scan in one image, giving doctors the ability to pinpoint precisely where and how active a tumor may be. The PET scan reveals metabolic processes of tumor growth activity. The CT scan helps detect precisely the location of the tumor. With combined PET/CT, doctors are able to more accurately detect and track the stages of cancer, determine what is malignant growth and what is not, monitor progress of treatment, and determine the next steps of treatment.

“We are dedicated to providing the most advanced diagnostic imaging for our patients and offering the PET/CT service was the natural next step. This technology will help us better track disease and provide patients greater comfort and sense of security that their disease will be treated in the most aggressive and accurate manner possible,” said James Coleman, MD, chief of radiology at LMH.

PET/CT is also used to monitor a patient’s response to, and progress in therapy. Physicians can see in great detail if tumors are shrinking, or if the cancer has come back in a patient who has had the disease before. The PET/CT scan is particularly effective for diagnosis and management of lung cancer, lymphoma, head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer.

“Having cancer is stressful enough for patients. PET scans have been particularly helpful in alleviating some of that stress by figuring out exactly which stage the cancer is at,” said Douglas Taylor, MD, chief of hematology and oncology at LMH. “The PET/CT enhances our ability to develop a treatment plan that fits both the cancer and the patient.”

In addition to the advances in the image, the new technology benefits patients by reducing the scanning time from 50 to about 30 minutes. And the tunnel of the PET/CT scanner is shorter for those who might be claustrophobic.