You all did so well with last week's "lesson" (though I am still grading the exams), that I thought we'd try another informational overview about Multiple Myeloma (MM).
PET stands for positron emission tomography. The PET scan uses a mildly radioactive liquid (radioactive tracer) to highlight areas of your body where cells are more active than normal (over-active cell growth of any type is not good = cancer). It is used to help diagnose some conditions, including cancer. If cancer is present, the PET can also help to find out where and whether cancer has spread.
As part of a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, a PET scan is specifically used in the context of MM for several important reasons such as: Assessment of Active Disease (the initial diagnosis of the presence of MM); Staging and Treatment Planning (how advanced is the disease, and treatment options to then consider); Monitoring Response to Treatment (increases or decreases in cancer cell growth); Detection of Relapse (return of the disease); and Localization for Biopsy (what area of the body to focus the procedure).
Of the many available methods to "see" inside the body, the PET scan particularly allows radiologists and MM specialists to see inside the bone marrow, where the actual disease takes place.
If you are EVER confronted with the possibility of having MM, please keep in mind that a proper diagnosis of MM requires a combination of: clinical evaluation, laboratory tests (including blood and urine tests), imaging studies (such as CT scans, and the aforementioned PET scan), and the most conclusive indicator - a bone marrow biopsy; we've talked about this before (3/9/18), the one with the long, long needle. This kind of multidisciplinary approach, involving hematologists, oncologists, radiologists, and other specialists, is often necessary to accurately distinguish MM from other conditions - and provide appropriate treatment and management guidance along the way.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: To my writing partner (and granddog) Louie, who to date has written a number of novels, screenplays, TV scripts, a play, and scads of social media content.
