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From Phoenix5's Prostate Cancer Glossary
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positron emission tomography

Synonyms: PET scan

Definition: (pahs-uh-trahn uh-mish-uhn tom-agh-ruh-fee): also known as a PET scan, it creates an image of the body (or of biochemical events) after the injection of a very low dose of a radioactive form of a substance such as glucose (sugar). The scan computes the rate at which the tumor is using the sugar. In general, high-grade tumors use more sugar than normal and low-grade tumors use less. PET scans are especially useful in taking images of the brain, although they are becoming more widely used to find the spread of cancer of the breast, colon, rectum, ovary, or lung. PET scans may also be used to see how well the tumor is responding to treatment.



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Definitions are provided for education only and are not medical advice. Created exclusively for Phoenix5. © 2002 Phoenix5.