Whole body MRI vs PET/CT

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jenrio
jenrio Member Posts: 558
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

I'm researching what is the best way to pick up metastasis at the earliest stage possible:

A.   Whole body MRI

B.   PET :  radiation 800mrem

C.   CT: radiation 800 mrem

If the resolution is the same, I'd definitely go for Whole body MRI on a routine basis.   Are they routinely offered?   Do they need very good radiologist/labs to interpret?   Are they sensitive enough?

 Thanks!

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  • jenrio
    jenrio Member Posts: 558
    edited September 2011

    Apparently most mets goes to bones.    The best imaging available for bone is PET, but it involves lots of radiation.   So, can MRI detect bone mets?   If so, which kind of bone mets?

     Does it require specialized equipment/labs/cancer center?   

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  • Padiddle
    Padiddle Member Posts: 853
    edited September 2011

    This week, I learned I have progression of metastatic disease.  I've been on FEMARA for about 17 months.  My onc was deciding today whether to have a bone scan or PET scan.  He felt a bone scan would be better to see bone involvement, but choose PET scan to see more than just bone.  Hope this helps.  Jean

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  • jenrio
    jenrio Member Posts: 558
    edited October 2011

    Jean, sorry for the bad news!   Will they put you on a different drug now?   Hugs,

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  • sundermom
    sundermom Member Posts: 463
    edited October 2011

    I don't know which is more effective, but I am told I will be having a PET scan yearly around the diagnosis date and CT scans every 12 weeks in between. I'm not excited about all of the radiation, but I am happy that I will get reassurances every 12 weeks that I remain NED.

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  • nancyh
    nancyh Member Posts: 2,644
    edited October 2011

    Jean,

    Sorry to hear about your progression.  PET/CT's are highly sensitive and can pick up not only how big cancer is, but how active it is (referred to as hypermetabolic activity).  That being said, bone scans are better at picking up bone mets.  I just had both, bone scan on Thur, PET/CT on Fri.  Interestingly, the bone scan picked up new bone mets that were not seen on the PET, however, the PET picked up new liver lesions plus new activity in old lesisions including bone.  

    To the original question - I've never heard of doing a whole body MRI for mets, so am guessing it isn't common or routine, but then again I'm always learning new things on the boards, so maybe someone will know. 

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