The radiology department at Hackensack University Medical Center performed a new procedure call C-11 Choline to detect prostate cancer, making it the first hospital in the state and one of a few in the country to conduct the new test.
C-11 Choline uses a radioisotope to detect sites of recurrent prostate cancer that conventional imaging, such as CAT or MRI scans, can't. The C-11 Choline is injected into the patient prior to a PET/CT scan. Cancer cells absorb the C-11 Choline and light up, allowing physicians to pinpoint the location of these cells to more effectively treat recurrent prostate cancer.
"A traditional CAT scan or MRI is not sensitive enough to find cancer when it is very small," said Sean D. Pierce, MD, chairman of the department of radiology at HackensackUMC. "C-11 Choline shows 80-90 percent specificity, which means we can pick up very small areas of cancer with much more sensitivity, allowing us to better target our treatment of that patient."
C-11 Choline is a biomarker approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is reimbursed by CMS.
"I congratulate the radiology team members, under the direction of Dr. Pierce, for their commitment to seeking the most advanced technology to treat our patients," said Ihor S. Sawczuk, MD, president of HackensackUMC. "This new technology is giving us a lead time that no other institution in New Jersey has. We are able to treat the cancer at a much earlier stage to give the patient more specific and targetable therapy, and overall, the chance of a better outcome."
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