Preoperative PET and the Reduction of Unnecessary Surgery Among Newly Diagnosed Lung Cancer Patients in a Community Setting

During the period 1997-2009, nearly 3,000 military veterans with NSCLC were evaluated regarding the utility of PET in staging their cancers.  PET use increased in frequency during the study period from 9% to 91%.  PET reduced the chance of unnecessary surgery by nearly 50%.