PET scan for breast cancer

PET shows tracer uptake, while CT provides an anatomical map. Together, they may help assess disease outside the breast, clarify an uncertain finding, or evaluate response when the clinical team needs information about the whole body. Uptake can also occur with inflammation, infection, or healing, so an active area is not proof of cancer.

The breast tumour’s type and extent are usually established with breast imaging and tissue sampling. A [Mammogram](/treatments/diagnostics-and-imaging/mammogram/), [Breast MRI](/treatments/diagnostics-and-imaging/breast-mri/), or [Breast Biopsy](/treatments/diagnostics-and-imaging/breast-biopsy/) may answer a more specific question.

Follow the imaging unit’s instructions about food, medicines, activity, and arrival time. Tell the team about diabetes, pregnancy or possible pregnancy, recent infection, surgery, or difficulty staying still. Afterward, ask which findings matter, whether they are new, and how they compare with other scans. Treatment decisions may also use lymph-node sampling and tumour biology tests.

Contact your care team promptly for new severe headache, weakness, confusion, seizures, breathing difficulty, or rapidly worsening pain. These symptoms need assessment because urgency is determined by the symptom, not by the presence of tracer uptake alone.

Why is PET-CT being recommended for me? What question will it answer? Could inflammation explain an active area? Do I still need biopsy or MRI? Will the result change staging or treatment?