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PET involves the use of an imaging device (PET scanner) and a tiny amount of radiotracer that is injected into the patient’s bloodstream.

The molecular imaging technologies currently being used for ovarian cancer are positron emission tomography (PET) scanning and PET in conjunction with computer-aided tomography (PET-CT). Studies also show that hybrid imaging, such as a combined PET-CT scan, is highly accurate for detecting recurrent ovarian cancer and for determining the best possible treatment plan. Researchers believe molecular imaging holds promise for evaluating ovarian cancer. Early detection and accurate diagnosis are the key to increasing ovarian cancer survival rates. However, because there is no effective screening test for the disease and symptoms are often vague, the majority of women are diagnosed at a late stage when survival rates are very low. Ovarian cancer is highly curable when treated at an early stage. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2011, 22,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and more than 15,000 women will die from the disease. Ovarian cancer occurs when certain cells within ovaries, the egg-producing female reproductive organs, grow in an uncontrolled, abnormal, manner. The cause of ovarian cancer, the fifth most common cancer among women, is unknown.