| | | | | |

Talc Pleurodesis Patients Need Alternate PET/CT Scan for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

PET/CT scan for mesotheliomaCertain patients may get more benefit out of an alternate type of PET/CT scan for mesothelioma.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a common tool for diagnosing mesothelioma. It is also used to monitor the effectiveness of mesothelioma treatments.

Doctors often combine PET with computed tomography (CT) for an even clearer picture of mesothelioma progression.

Typically, a PET/CT scan for mesothelioma involves injection of a tracer called FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose). But it turns out that PET/CT scans with this tracer do not work well for all mesothelioma patients.

A new Japanese study suggests that mesothelioma patients who have had a procedure called talc pleurodesis should consider a different kind of PET/CT scan instead.

How Does Talc Pleurodesis Impact PET/CT Scan for Mesothelioma?

Talc pleurodesis is one method for dealing with a common mesothelioma side effect called pleural effusion.

Mesothelioma patients with pleural effusion have a buildup of fluid in the space around the lungs.

As fluid builds up, it can compress the lungs, making it harder and harder for patients to get a deep breath. Talc pleurodesis involves filling in the space around the lungs with a talc solution so that fluid can no longer collect there.

But talc pleurodesis can make it harder for doctors to use an FDG PET/CT scan for mesothelioma diagnosis and monitoring. The FDG tends to collect in inflamed areas and produce false positive results.

This kind of PET/CT scan for mesothelioma can make it look like there are new tumors when there are no new tumors.

Choline PET/CT Scan for Mesothelioma May Work Better

To get around the problem of false positives with FDG PET/CT, the Japanese researchers tested a different kind of PET/CT scan for mesothelioma.

The alternate method uses a tracer called Choline C-11 instead of FDG. Inflamed or hardened areas in the pleura do not tend to absorb very much Choline.

As a result, a Choline PET/CT scan for mesothelioma is less likely to produce a false positive result.

The Japanese team used the alternative method in two mesothelioma patients after talc pleurodesis and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

“Post-NAC 11C-choline PET/CT showed mild choline uptake of pleural talc deposit, which did not interfere with the post-chemotherapy disease evaluation,” concludes the report.

The researchers suggest that Choline PET/CT for mesothelioma is a better choice for diagnosis and treatment monitoring in patients who have had talc pleurodesis.

Source:

Kitajima, K, “Fluorodeoxyglucose versus Choline Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Response Evaluation in Two Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Patients Treated with Talc Pleurodesis and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy”, November 2018, https://www.cureus.com/articles/16340

Similar Posts

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland
|

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

ByAlex Strauss

A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?
| |

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma
|

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited
| |

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

ByAlex Strauss

A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia
| | |

Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

ByAlex Strauss

Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…