Revelations about the actual cause of myocardial infarction have led researchers to seek out new ways to diagnose, evaluate, treat and prevent coronary artery disease, specifically through imaging vulnerable plaque.

The use of PET imaging increased rapidly from 2004 through 2008 among Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with cancer, according to a study published in the January issue of Journal of the American College of Radiology. The researchers surmised that PET primarily serves as an additional, rather than replacement, imaging exam.

As many in the political and public arenas argue that the costs of healthcare are on an unsustainable trajectory, physicians may be reaching their limits as well: the costs of care for oncology “are unsustainable” and require far-reaching changes in treatment and attitudes, among oncologists as well as patients, wrote the authors of a May 25 article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).