Pune: PET Scan to aid cancer patients in Sassoon Hospital

The scans are performed to determine whether cancer has spread throughout the body or has returned after treatment and to evaluate the prognosis of cancer.

Dr Ibrahim Ansari, associate professor of radiology and co-ordinator for PET-CT at Sassoon, told TOI, "We have launched both the PET-CT scan machine and a Spect machine with gamma cameras. A team of five is deployed to run tests and handle both machines."

BJ Medical College dean Dr Sanjiv Thakur said, "We can start all 49 tests with this machine. The rates range from Rs240 for EC/MAG3 Renogram to Rs5,800 for FDG PET/CT whole body [contrast]. The costs of these tests at private facilities could be three times more. We are the only state-run medical college to have this facility."

A PET scan is a type of nuclear medicine imaging. Nuclear medicine uses small and safe amounts of radioactive material, called radiotracers, given through an IV.

Unlike other imaging techniques, PET scans focus on processes and molecular activity within the body. This gives them the potential to find disease in its earliest stages. 

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