Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 6: Dr (Brig) Man Mohan Harjai, Chief Administrative Officer of SMVD Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Katra has claimed that PET CT scan has been made fully functional at Narayana Hospital at Kakryal.
Brig Harjai disclosed that on the first day of the inauguration by Governor N N Vohra on April 25, 12 PET CT scans were done for different cancer patients including, Cancer of breast, Larynx (Voice Box), Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Anal canal, Cervix (part of Uterus), stomach etc. In one of the cases of carcinoma (a tumour made up of cancer cells) rectum, the PET CT detected liver lesions that a conventional CT did not pick up earlier.
A soft tissue lesion was also detected in left breast consistent with synchronous malignancy, in the same patient. The synchronous malignancy is two or more histologically distinct malignancies arising in the same site, following each other in sequence by less than 2 months. In another case of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (a cancer that starts in the lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system) who reported for initial staging, the bone marrow lesions were detected on PET CT, indicative of advanced stage of the disease, suggesting avoidable bone marrow biopsy and thus evading an un-necessary procedure on the patient.
Brig Harjai added that with the help of PET-CT some painful procedures can be avoided as it is now replacing biopsies to rule out bone marrow involvement in lymphomas, as in one of the cases mentioned earlier.
PET CT is a non-invasive imaging modality that provides physiological information through the injection of radiotracer. The type of information provided depends on the imaging agent and can include detection, classification, staging, prognosis, treatment planning, assessing response to therapy, and surveillance. It is also used for specific neurological and cardiovascular indications.
He further stated that the PET CT helps oncologists to identify the exact stage of cancer, unknown cancer primary site, malignant or benign tumour and progression of disease and recurrence, if any, after treatment.
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