PET Scans in Canada

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a type of advanced medical scanning which takes a 3-dimensional image of the body. Most commonly, a tracer molecule such as FDG (which contains glucose, or sugar) is used. The PET scan then detects areas of substantial "pickup," or accumulation, of FDG in the body. Because tumours tend to actively take up glucose, they can be more easily spotted on the scan. Today some centres operate combined PET/CT machines, which produce a composite image using both PET technology and CT (X-ray) technology.

Availability of PET scans, unfortunately, is one of many elements of healthcare that varies between provinces in terms of public funding and availability. For instance, Quebec performs about 21,000 PET scans per year, while Ontario performs only 2000 PET scans per year. Ontario's public funding for PET scans is very limited, although coverage has recently been expanded to several new conditions, including (in certain cases) lymphoma.

The following list is under perpetual construction will be regularly updated. If you are aware of changes, please contact Northoma or leave a comment.

How Ann Arbor Staging Works for Lymphoma

The first standard action once cancer is diagnosed is "staging": an assessment of how far it has spread throughout the body. Lymphoma is traditionally staged according to what is known as the Ann Arbor system, which stages cancer between Stage I (localized disease) and Stage IV (metastasis, or spread, throughout the body). This is similar to the TNM system used in other solid cancers.

For lymphoma, the Ann Arbor stages mean: