Imaging Often Changes Colorectal Cancer Management

TUESDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The results of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning often changes disease management in patients with suspected colorectal cancer recurrence and can identify those whose disease is more likely to progress, researchers report in the September issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Andrew M. Scott, M.D., from Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues examined whether PET scan results changed disease management and outcomes in 191 patients (median age 66 years) with proven or suspected colorectal cancer recurrence. Of these, 93 had lesions suggesting a recurrent tumor (group A), while the remaining 98 had potentially resectable pulmonary or hepatic metastases (group B).

The researchers found that as of 12 months of follow-up, treatment plans were changed in 65.6 percent of group A patients and in 49 percent of group B patients, and implemented in 96 percent of patients. Of the 48.4 percent of group A patients who showed additional sites of disease by PET scanning, 60.5 percent showed progressive disease compared with 36.2 percent of patients without additional sites of disease. Of the 43.9 percent of group B patients who showed additional sites of disease by PET scanning, 65.9 percent showed progressive disease compared with 39.2 percent of patients without additional sites of disease. PET scanning also improved prognostic stratification into curative or palliative treatment groups, the report indicates.

"These data demonstrate the significant impact of PET on management and outcomes in patients with suspected recurrent colorectal cancer," Scott and colleagues conclude.

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