Positron-Emission Tomography–Computed Tomography for Cancer Screening: Boon or Bane

Excerpt

We read the article by Caliskan et al. [1] with great interest. The authors have reported a case of incidentally detected rectal cancer in a patient undergoing positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) examination for assessment of a screen detected pulmonary nodule. Though PET-CT may be able to further characterize the lesion (more than 8-mm solid or partly solid pulmonary nodule) identified on screening CT, it is of low specificity if the patient has granulomatous disease. Based on the identification of a clinically asymptomatic rectal cancer in this patient, the authors have pitched for utilization of PET-CT for cancer screening. They have flagged the government policy for not reimbursing the cost of PET-CT done for cancer screening. The case report is interesting, but its scientific value is anecdotal, at best. …