Positron Emission Tomography, or PET scans for short, have been commonly used in medical diagnostics for years. Even so, not everyone is familiar with the technology or its most common uses. If a doctor recommends this test, patients can rest assured it’s not a painful one and the information it can provide may, in fact,

When doctors start ordering tests that have funny-sounding acronyms for names, it’s not uncommon for patients to get just a little bit uncomfortable. If the test in question happens to be a PET scan (or positron emission tomography scan), there’s nothing to fret about. This fairly simple, but highly powerful test is generally ordered to

The American Cancer Society estimates more than 222,000 people across the country will face a diagnosis of lung cancer in the coming year. While the disease readily strikes men and women alike, men are at slightly higher risk for developing this potentially fatal condition. Men, a new study indicates, should also undergo more frequent routine

When a doctor orders a CT scan to help with diagnosing an illness or other concern in a child, it’s not uncommon for parents to be a little wary. After all, computerized tomography, or CT scans for short, do require the use of radiation. Since parents are protective by nature, it’s perfectly normal to be

When healthcare providers need more detailed information about what’s going on inside the body without requiring that they actually go into the body, a unique combination test can deliver the results needed. A PET/CT scan combines two powerful imaging procedures into one, providing an in-depth look inside the body from the outside. PET/CT scans are

When a medical condition is suspected or already under treatment, it’s not uncommon for patients to feel like they’ve been sent back to school. When one test with a funny name leads to another and another, keeping up with how to prepare and what to expect can be tough. If your doctor has ordered a

Esophageal cancer is one of the rarer forms of this disease, but one of the most difficult to treat. Known to affect just under 17,000 Americans annually, this disease claims an estimated 15,600 lives each year. Due to its location in the body and the potential to do harm to vital nearby organs, esophageal cancer

With more than 220,000 new cases reported annually and some 155,000 deaths attributed to the cause, lung cancer is one of the deadliest forms of this disease known to man. As it is with many other forms of cancer, lung cancer can sometimes be treated highly successfully when it is detected in its earliest stages.

People who are diagnosed with esophageal cancer will find it’s not at all uncommon for healthcare providers to recommend chemotherapy before surgery. This pre-treatment is performed to help shrink tumors before surgery and potentially increase the odds for treatment success. That said, not all esophageal cancers respond as desired to chemotherapy. Being able to gauge

Mesothelioma is a very rare form of cancer that is estimated to strike only about 3,000 Americans each year. Although rare, this condition continues to be one of the deadliest forms of cancer due to a number of reasons. New research, however, is providing some hope in that physicians may be better able to predict