New anti-tumor agents result in significant benefits for cancer patients, but may have serious cardiovascular side effects which can be detected early using scintigraphic techniques, according to an article published in the April issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

PET imaging is effective in staging, restaging, detecting recurrence and treatment monitoring across a wide range of cancers. This feature discusses updates on important PET imaging clinical trials in cancer care by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network and National Cancer Institute and focuses on improving cancer staging and predicting response to therapy. The National Oncology PET Registry (NOPR) recently published the results of the impact of dedicated brain PET on intended patient management and opened a registry for 18F-sodium fluoride PET to identify bone metastasis. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) sponsored by the NCI is another group conducting clinical trials in cancer, yet PET trials are still few.