Course Description
Lung cancer is a common disease with approximately 3 million new diagnosed patients worldwide, and it is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in many countries. Approximately 80% of patients are diagnosed with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 20% are diagnosed with small-cell-lung cancer. Throughout the course of diagnosis and treatment, patients may undergo multiple imaging studies depending on their cancer type and treatment course. For patients diagnosed with NSCLC, the use of computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and a combination of both (PET-CT) are commonly used. As a result, it is imperative that radiologic technologists (RTs) are educated about the roles each modality plays in the diagnosis and treatment of this patient population. This textbook chapter course will discuss and focus on patients with NSCLC, how patients with this type of lung cancer are evaluated, tumor assessment, and tumor staging. This course will also examine lung nodule staging and the roles that CT, PET, and PET-CT play in determining nodule size, chest wall invasion, lymph nodule involvement, and metastatic spread. Noninvasive imaging modalities that are used to evaluate patients with solitary pulmonary modules are also discussed. CT, PET, and PET-CT, their advantages and disadvantages in the assessment, staging and restaging, tumor recurrence, and radiation therapy planning will be closely examined. Advances in integrated PET/CT-fusion of data sets and their promising future in diagnostic imaging and staging will also be covered.

Learning Objectives
After reading the content, the participant should be able to:

• EXPLAIN the noninvasive imaging modalities used to assess patients diagnosed with nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
• COMPARE and CONTRAST the use of computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and PET-CT in the diagnosis of patients with NSCLC.
• IDENTIFY the evaluation method for the assessing nodules based upon size, chest wall invasion, lymph node involvement, and metastatic involvement.
• SUMMARIZE different staging criteria and nodule assessment in T-staging, N-staging, and M-staging.
• IDENTIFY the advantages of each noninvasive imaging modality as it relates to the different disease staging criteria.
• EXPLAIN the utilization and incorporation of both PET/CT data sets-fusion images for restaging tumor recurrence and radiation planning.

Categories: Computed Tomography, Nuclear Medicine

In order to receive CE credit, you must first complete the activity content. When completed, go to the "Take CE Test!" link to access the post-test.

Submit the completed answers to determine if you have passed the post-test assessment. You must answer 17 out of 22 questions correctly to receive CE credit. You will have no more than 3 attempts to successfully complete the post-test.

Participants successfully completing the activity content and passing the post-test will receive 1.25 ARRT Category A credits.

Approved by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists for ARRT Category A credit.

Approved by the state of Florida for ARRT Category A credit.

Texas direct credit.

This activity may be available in multiple formats or from different sponsors. ARRT does not allow CE activities such as Internet courses, home study programs, or directed readings to be repeated for CE credit in the same biennium.