Scans
“Staging” of new Haematology Cancer disorders often involves scans to determine exactly which parts of the body are affected. Commonly used scans are ultrasound, CT scans and PET scans (hyperlink to patient info on PET scan). An ultrasound uses sound waves to create images of body structures. CT scans use an injection of dye in the vein, and a computerised image to create detailed images of the body. PET scans use an injection of glucose labelled with a special dye to determine which parts of the body are metabolising the most glucose – a useful way of defining involvement by diseases such as lymphoma and myeloma. Often after some or all of your anti-cancer treatment has been completed, a repeat scan will be performed to determine how successful the treatment has been. This is called ‘restaging’.
