How to Understand Your FDG-PET Scan Results

The fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan detects cancerous tumors and lesions. Patients are administered a glucose tracer (FDG- a radioactive type of sugar), and then they are scanned to determine if cancer cells are present and/or to determine if the cancer has spread to other organs. Active cancer cells thrive off sugar and grabs hold of the glucose tracer like a magnet, which makes the tumors easy to recognize on the PET scan results.

Instructions

• 1

  View images of you PET scan. Identify the bright white areas on the PET scan imaging report, as "hot spots." These spots are the FDG tracer, indicating the location of cancerous cells.

• 2

  Read your FDG-PET scan results. Look for the word "metastasis" to find out if your cancer has spread.

• 3

  Recognize the wording "recurrent malignancy" to mean that a previous cancer has returned. Tumors may or may not recur in the same location.