Breast Cancer

After treatment, it is important to know if any active cancer cells remain in the body. In the past, the amount and type of chemotherapy that was used, as well as the area treated by the radiation beams in radiation therapy, was according to standard rules. PET allows the type and amount of therapy to be tailored specifically to you, the patient, depending upon the location and extent of your type of cancer.

Continue with an annual mammogram. If anything suggests that the cancer might have come back in either your breast or elsewhere, the doctor will want to do more tests. Treatment could involve surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, or chemotherapy.

During this time, PET can be used to image breast tumor response to therapy and to detect recurrence in treated lesions. Post surgery and other treatments, PET is extremely important in order to monitor and see if the cancer cells have returned.

If the cancer cells have been killed by the treatment, they will not absorb any of the radioactive glucose given in the PET scan. After treatment, although the tumor masses may still be present and seen on CT scans, the cells may no longer be alive - which can be shown by PET. Conversely, if the cancer cells have come back in either lymph nodes or scar tissue from surgery or another lesion, PET can see the accumulation of the radioactive glucose much sooner than a CT scan - treatment can be re-started sooner, improving your chance of beating this disease.

Call the PET centers nearest you if you have breast cancer and would like to discuss whether PET could be useful in your care.