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PET-CT ACCURACY

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › PET-CT ACCURACY

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    • June 11, 2019 at 5:02 pm
    nada3aziz
    Participant
      Heello everybody.

      * I had diagnosed Melanoma Clark II and I made my first PET CT after the biopsy and it didn’t appear in it, then I removed it and the doctors said that I didn`t need any treatments.
      Do you know why The melanoma didn’t appear in the PET_CT?
      * After 6 months I had my second PET CT and it totally clears except a small nodule in the lung.
      Do I doubt about that and will it be a cancer?
      Is PET_CT accurate about diagnosing Melanoma, in case I don`t discover it in my skin and without biopsy?

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        • June 13, 2019 at 7:43 pm
        WithinMySkin
        Participant
          A PET CT scan is two types of scans in one sitting. A PET scan uses a sugar drink and a radioactive tracer that ‘lights up’ at high levels of uptake, ultimately showing high metabolic activity (which cancer is known to do). The picture quality is poor on this type of scan, but it shows metabolic activity which is very helpful to spot cancer. A CT scan, however, does not show metabolic activity – it shows a detailed picture of the body. So the two together help medical professionals know where to look (what lights up on the PET scan) and see a detailed picture of what it is that they are looking at (the CT scan).

          Cancer cells can only be found once they have reached a certain size and if they have high metabolic activity. I believe the magic number is 2 mm, but some things I’ve seen online say 8 mm in size to be detected. If there is something seen that is small (like your lung nodule – which is very common to have even without cancer, by the way) then most doctors like to watch and wait. If it goes away on the next scan, then it was just a normal nodule and nothing to worry about.

          Hope this helps you. Health and happiness,
          Lauren

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