PET confirmed as valuable cancer diagnostic and disease-staging tool

The recent release of data by the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) showing that positron emission tomography (PET) produced scans revealing disease at a molecular level, which then caused physicians to change treatment plans for more than one-third of participating patients, has corroborated decades of nuclear medicine research.

“These data only confirm what SNM members have known for some time: molecular imaging is a powerful tool in diagnosing, treating, and monitoring disease and is capable of dramatically changing the course of patient care,” said SNM President Alexander J. McEwan, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Alberta and director of oncologic imaging at Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Canada. “SNM has been a large endorser of NOPR since its inception nearly two years ago. Many of our members have taken part in the study, and we’re gratified to see these results released.”

The NOPR project marked one of the first times that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extended procedure-specific coverage conditioned on collection of patient data into a registry. For PET indications currently not covered for payment, including—but not limited to—brain, cervical, small cell lung, pancreatic, ovarian and testicular cancers, referring physicians completed short surveys prior to and following PET scans. These surveys were then submitted electronically to the NOPR database. With data analysis support from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Biostatistics Center at Brown University, NOPR investigators assessed the effect of PET on referring physicians’ plans of intended patient management across a wide spectrum of cancer indications and reported their findings to CMS.

“The launching of the registry was a milestone for cancer patients,” said Peter S. Conti, M.D., Ph.D., professor of radiology, clinical pharmacy and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and former president of SNM. “PET advances will continue to provide new dimensions in imaging cancer as the medical community integrates advances made in molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, physics, pharmacology, engineering and computer sciences.”

Nearly 1,200 participating facilities in the NOPR contributed PET scan data from nearly 23,000 patients involved in the study. Analysis of registry data reported that PET is associated with a 36.5 percent change in the treatment or no-treatment decision. In response to this positive data, NOPR has formally asked CMS to reconsider the current National Coverage decision on PET and to end the data collection requirements for diagnosis, staging and restaging. Medicare will review the data and issue their decision regarding reimbursement for PET scans covered only through the NOPR.

Because the findings are representative of Medicare patients for whom PET would be ordered if it were covered by CMS for the expanded indications, SNM joins with NOPR in calling for CMS to raise its restrictions on reimbursement.

“NOPR afforded oncologists and nuclear medicine physicians a unique opportunity to make PET available to Medicare beneficiaries and to improve our understanding of the role of PET in oncology practice,” said SNM member Barry Siegel, M.D., co-chair of the NOPR Working Group. “Based on the results, Medicare should strongly consider opening up the coverage to include diagnosis, staging, and restaging for all cancers.”

Source: Society of Nuclear Medicine

Related stories:

PET scan distinguishes Alzheimer's from other dementia
A PET scan (positron emission tomography) that measures uptake of sugar in the brain significantly improves the accuracy of diagnosing a type of dementia often mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease, a study led by a University of Utah dementia expert has found.
Once a shy monkey, always a shy monkey? New study shows persistence of anxiety
We all know people who are tense and nervous and can't relax. They may have been wired differently since childhood.
Bill Gates moves on, but Microsoft keeps his 'quests' alive
(AP) -- It is almost unthinkable that any one human could pick up where Bill Gates leaves off when he ends his full-time tenure Friday as Microsoft's leader.
Eczema in infancy may be linked to cat ownership in those with a specific gene mutation
A gene mutation and cat exposure at birth may increase a child's risk of developing eczema during their first year according to a study published in PLoS Medicine this week. Researchers led by Professor Hans Bisgaard (University Hospital Gentofte, Copenhagen, Denmark) studied the association between mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) and exposure to environmental factors with the development of eczema.
DNA study unlocks mystery to diverse traits in dogs
Discovery offers potential benefits for dogs and their owners
What makes a pointer point, a sheep dog herd, and a retriever retrieve? Why do Yorkshire terriers live longer than Great Danes? And how can a tiny Chihuahua possibly be related to a Great Dane?
MIT unlocks mystery behind brain imaging
Star-shaped brain cells shown to play key role
In work that solves a long-standing mystery in neuroscience, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown for the first time that star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes—previously considered bit players by most neuroscientists—make noninvasive brain scans possible.
Patient's own infection-fighting T cells put late-stage melanoma into long-term remission
Case is first to show safety and effectiveness of using cloned cells alone to kill tumors
Researchers describe the first successful use of a human patient's cloned infection-fighting T cells as the sole therapy to put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into long-term remission. A team led by Cassian Yee, M.D., an associate member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, reports these findings in the June 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Advance towards early Alzheimer's diagnosis
The leader of the team that made the discovery, Professor Christopher Rowe of the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, says early diagnosis and treatment presents medical practitioners with the best opportunity to delay the onset of Alzheimer's.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news