PET scans may replace painful bone marrow biopsies in pediatric cancer patients

A study led by Universitätsmedizin Halle and an international research team suggests that PET scans may serve as a reliable alternative to painful bone marrow punctures for detecting rhabdomyosarcoma spread.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare cancer that accounts for approximately 60 percent of all soft tissue tumors in children. It consists of malignant muscle tissue that can spread to the bone marrow. While bone marrow aspiration is currently the gold standard for determining spread, it is invasive and may miss unevenly distributed cancer cells.

The research, which included data from over 300 patients, indicates that Positron Emission Tomography (PET) using FDG-labeled sugar molecules can visualize tumor involvement in the bone marrow with similar reliability to traditional methods, potentially sparing pediatric patients from painful procedures.