In September of 2013, CMS issued its final decision memo that concluded positron emission tomography- amyloid beta (PET Aβ) imaging is “not reasonable or necessary”, finding “insufficient evidence” that use of this diagnostic tool would improve health outcomes for patients with dementia or neurodegenerative disease. As such, PET Aβ imaging to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is not a covered service for Medicare beneficiaries except for those enrolled in CMS-approved clinical trials. {read more here}

New quantitative data suggests that 30 percent of the surgeries performed for non-small cell lung cancer patients in a community-wide clinical studywere deemed unnecessary. Additionally, positron emission tomography (PET) was found to reduce unnecessary surgeries by 50 percent, according to research published in the March issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. {read more here}

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study being presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 describes a novel method to “manipulate the lipid metabolism in the cancer cell to trick them to use more radiolabeled glucose, the basis of PET scanning,” says Isabel Schlaepfer, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center Department of Pharmacology, and recipient of a 2014 Minority Scholar Award in Cancer Research from AACR. {read more here}

PET scans with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) showed a dramatic increase in brain beta-amyloid deposits in older adults with no signs of dementia, and there was also a strong association between arterial stiffness and beta amyloid, according to a study published online March 31 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. {read more here}