Can A PET-CT Detect Stage-4 Colon Cancer?

Posted on Fri, 10 Jun 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 Answered on

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer yet my pet scan showed nothing. how do yo explain

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
need a bit more detailed information

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query. I can understand your concerns.

You have not mentioned any details, like symptoms, investigations, any procedure undertaken, etc. So it is difficult for me to understand your situation.

However, even without PET CT abnormalities, stage 4 colon cancer can be diagnosed. I will give you an example. Let's say a patient for colon cancer undergoes surgery and during the surgery, surgeon finds small nodule on liver. He removes both colon tumor and the nodule. Biopsy of the nodule reveal metastatic cancer. So this patient has stage 4 disease. After surgery PET scan done, shows nothing. Still this is stage 4.

Hope this helps. If you get back with more details, I can help you understand your situation.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar