A scan that detects the spread of cervical cancer is an accurate predictor of disease-free survival.

Cervical cancer may spread through the body via the lymphatic system, and this makes survival less likely. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have shown how the extent of spread can be measured, using positron emission tomography (PET) scanning.

The scan involves injecting a radioactive form of glucose that reveals which lymph nodes in the body are affected by the cancer - these take up more of the glucose. A group of 40 patients with cervical cancer were scanned and divided into groups, depending on how far the cancer had spread.

Those with no spread had a 68 per cent survival rate, compared to 57 per cent where spread was confined to the pelvic cavity. Those whose cancer had spread most, throughout the whole body, had a zero per cent survival rate. The study suggests that the PET scan is a very useful prognostic tool in cervical cancer.

Source

American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology Annual Meeting 7th October 2002