FDG-PET changes management for one in three cancer patients

January 25, 2008 FDG-PET changes management for one in three cancer patients H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary results from more than 20,000 patients in the National Oncologic PET Registry found that referring physicians changed their intended clinical management for more than one-third of cancer patients based on findings from FDG-PET. The NOPR was devised to confirm that FDG-PET is as efficacious in clinical practice as it appeared to be from clinical trials that preceded the decision of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2005 to conditionally grant reimbursement for most applications for cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment monitoring. The requirement for a registry, managed by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network, was written in Medicare's coverage determination to measure FDG-PET's influence on clinical decision-making.

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