"The whole body can be inspected with one positioning", "Painless, non-invasive, safe and reliable" "Tumor screening early..." On the websites of many medical examination institutions, the expensive PET-CT examination is regarded as a representative of strength and has become a customer attraction. Signboard. Is it really necessary for ordinary people to do PET-CT to screen for cancer?
Discovery: "Cancer Check Artifact" advertisement claims to find lesions six months in advance
Recently, PET-CT, known as the “artifact for cancer screening”, has become a popular recommendation item in the high-end physical examination package. The advertisement claims that PET-CT can detect subtle lesions without any clinical symptoms, and that lesions can be found more than half a year earlier than conventional CT and magnetic resonance. It is a "new scientific weapon for cancer prevention", "one-time positioning to obtain whole body information", "Yes. High sensitivity for various types of tumors".
Reflect: Misdiagnosis occurred after spending more than 10,000 yuan
PET-CT examinations are expensive, and not everyone has the financial resources. According to feedback from many netizens who have done this test, the price of a PET-CT test is generally between 6,500 and 10,000 yuan. Now many hospitals are also equipped with this kind of equipment, although some places also include medical insurance, but more are at their own expense. Many children are willing to spend huge sums of money for the health of their parents, and those who have a certain financial foundation will choose "one step in place" to buy themselves peace of mind.
However, some people said that even if PET-CT was done, the spread and original lesions were not detected. Xiaowei's mother went to the hospital to see a doctor. At that time, she spent more than 10,000 yuan to do PET-CT. "At first, my mother had a CT scan and found that there was a tumor. The PET-CT result showed that there was no tumor. At the end of the operation, it was confirmed that there was a tumor. It is said to be There was a false negative because some tumors have low glucose metabolism that can lead to such a result."
Interpretation: PET-CT examination needs to clearly grasp the indications
What is PET-CT? Is it really that magical? Is PET-CT suitable for everyone?
According to Tian Yantao, director of the Department of Pancreatic and Stomach Surgery, Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, PET-CT is called positron emission computed tomography. It is a technology that combines the functional metabolism of the lesion with precise anatomical positioning. It can be used to clarify the diagnosis of tumors. , Especially to judge whether there is metastasis, and evaluate the clinical stage. PET-CT examination is a highly sensitive examination that can detect abnormal metabolic lesions early, but any examination method is not a panacea, not all cancers can be detected, and it needs to be related to inflammation and other factors that can cause tissue metabolism to increase. To identify the disease.
Tian Yantao believes that the best treatment for cancer lies in prevention, and early screening is an important part of cancer prevention. Most malignant tumors can be diagnosed early, and the treatment effect is satisfactory at this time, so early cancer screening is very necessary.
However, he emphasized that PET-CT, as an expensive examination, is not suitable for general surveys. It is currently mainly used for cancer screening in patients with confirmed cancer to exclude the presence of distant metastases, as well as tumor screening for people at high risk of malignant tumors.
Because there are other inspection methods that are not less sensitive than PET-CT and are low-cost, such as gastrointestinal endoscopy for early gastric cancer and colorectal cancer, low-dose spiral CT for lung cancer, mammography, and ultrasound are good for breast cancer. Diagnosis effect, so PET-CT examination needs to clearly grasp the indications.
Expert: It is not recommended to include PET-CT in the routine physical examination list
"For most people, it is unnecessary to do PET-CT every year. Cancer prevention cannot be hoped for by a certain examination method. The propaganda of the business should be based on the actual needs of the patient, not for commercial purposes." Tian Yantao suggested that correct cancer prevention can maintain a good lifestyle in daily life, quit smoking, limit alcohol, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, exercise properly, and not stay up late; stay away from some carcinogenic risk factors and occupational exposures, such as asbestos industry and excessive ultraviolet rays. Irradiation and so on.
Tian Yantao said that PET-CT examination has a certain radiation dose, and the pros and cons must be weighed when using it. The radiation unit of a PET-CT is about 25 millisieverts, which is equivalent to the amount of natural radiation received by ordinary people in 8 years. If the usual physical examination is not too abnormal, it is not recommended to include the PET-
CT examination in the routine physical examination list. If it is a high-risk group of cancer, you need to consider whether to perform PET-CT examination under the advice of a professional hospital.
