Healthy Living Newsletter
Cancer Diagnostic Services
PET/CT Availability Celebrates Five Years
 Continuing our commitment to offering the most advanced services for the care and treatment of cancer, the availability of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computerized Tomography (CT) is celebrating five years of providing advanced diagnostic services to the community at Mercy Health Center in Fort Gratiot.
Mercy Regional Cancer Center announced the availability of PET/CT nearly five years ago, and since that time has helped countless patients in the treatment of cancer.
This cancer treatment planning tool works in conjunction with traditional radiological procedures, providing more in-depth information to patients.
PET images are different from more conventional radiology studies, such as X-Ray, CT, Ultrasound or MRI. These radiology procedures image the organ structure. PET/CT images, on the other hand, contain information about the organ’s chemistry, cell function and exact location of disease.
Information from the PET/CT, along with other radiology and pathology procedures, enhances the diagnosis and staging of cancer tumors.
The highly sensitive PET scan detects the metabolic signal of actively growing cancer cells in the body, and the CT scan provides a detailed picture of the internal anatomy that reveals the location, size and shape of abnormal cancerous growths.
Combining PET and CT, Mercy offers state-of-the-art information that provides physicians more diagnostic confidence while improving treatment management.
At a recent conference, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the American College of Radiology, it was presented that one out of every three cancer treatment plans are managed differently when PET/CT is used.
PET/CT provides for early diagnosis, accurate tumor detection and precise localization, improved biopsy sampling, and enhanced assessment of a patient’s response to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
In addition to its diagnostic capabilities, PET/CT files can be imported into radiation therapy planning computers, aiding in the accuracy of radiation treatment.
The mobile PET/CT equipment, available through Mercy Health Center, is offered weekly.
While PET/CT imaging can serve a variety of patient care roles, the main strength is assisting with the diagnosis, staging and treatment of cancer.
To find out more about PET/CT and the vast diagnosis, treatment and cancer care services offered through Mercy Hospital talk to your doctor or go to the Cancer Care section of this website.
Appointments are provided by physician referral. Physicians can schedule appointments by calling 1 (877) 688-6122.
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