Blog

Chief of Nuclear Medicine Dr. Miguel Pampaloni, M.D., Ph.D., discusses combining positron emission tomography (PET) with computed tomography (CT) in oncology.

I was recently interviewed for an article, published in The New York Times, about the tendency for some hospitals and imaging centers to perform multiple CT scans on a single patient in one day. Not only is this extra radiation exposure an extremely unsafe practice, but it is also a very costly one for the Medicare system and other insurance companies.

As ABC News put it: "Mammograms save lives, period, end of story." This declaration -- something we at UCSF already advocated -- is the conclusive result of a landmark (29-year-long!) study of mammography screening.

Imaging can contribute substantially to the local and distant evaluation of prostate cancer. However, not all imaging is created equal.

The U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) recently revised their mammography guidelines, stating that women can wait until age 50 to have biennial (every 2 years) screening mammograms. However, research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons indicated that following the USPSTF guidelines would actually have a negative impact on survival. And we agree.

We wanted to let our readers know about an exciting event coming up on Saturday, June 18. It’s the Mount Zion Community Health Fair, and the campus community, family members and friends are all invited to attend!

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