HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - PET / CT scan -- what is the difference?

michele u · 05-12-2006, 10:35 PM

sherri,

PET is a newer test that using sugar intake to "lite" up the scans. Cancer uses sugar and the nuclear dye goes to the more "active" cells and that being cancer. You can see a lot smaller of a tumor with PET. It does have alot of false postives, like my thyroid lit up one time. It's not the greatest for brain tumors or bone mets. CT is better for soft tissue things like liver,abdomen,lung. MRI is best for brain tumors. Bone nuclear scan is best for bone mets. A PET is a good overall scan for screening, but VERY expensive, like 4-5 thousand dollars in some places. CT is the cheapest. Most PET scans use PET/CT scanners that use both techniques.

05-12-2006, 10:35 PM	#2
michele u Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Henderson, NE Posts: 413	sherri, PET is a newer test that using sugar intake to "lite" up the scans. Cancer uses sugar and the nuclear dye goes to the more "active" cells and that being cancer. You can see a lot smaller of a tumor with PET. It does have alot of false postives, like my thyroid lit up one time. It's not the greatest for brain tumors or bone mets. CT is better for soft tissue things like liver,abdomen,lung. MRI is best for brain tumors. Bone nuclear scan is best for bone mets. A PET is a good overall scan for screening, but VERY expensive, like 4-5 thousand dollars in some places. CT is the cheapest. Most PET scans use PET/CT scanners that use both techniques.