Test points to aggressive cervical cancer

A team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis says cervical malignancies that take up a lot of blood sugar (glucose) are more resistant to treatment than cervical cancers with a lower glucose uptake.

"We found that the tumors with higher uptake were associated with lower survival rates and lower disease-free survival rates," radiation oncologist Dr. Perry W. Grigsby said in a prepared statement.

He added that, "cervical tumors vary more in their glucose uptake than other kinds of cancer, making glucose uptake a very useful indicator for cervical cancers."

The study included 96 cervical cancer patients who had positron emission tomography (PET) scans before they received radiation and chemotherapy treatment. High glucose-uptake tumors can be identified with (PET) scans.

PET scans can reveal glucose uptake by a tumor by scanning the amount of radioactive glucose tracer absorbed by the cancer cells. The use of PET in this study indicates that this technology can be used to better determine prognosis in cervical cancer patients, the researchers said.

Grigsby wants to identify the cellular mechanisms that are altered in tumors with high glucose uptake.

•	Test points to aggressive cervical cancer Forbes.com, Thursday, April 13, 2006 Byline: HealthDay News

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