I respectfully disagree that responding and opening up an 8 year old question as though it was current with an inaccurate answer is "good". I can personally attest that this statement about PETscans [quote]It isn't possible to get a false negative though. If there is any cancer, it will light up on the PET scan.[/quote] is overbroad and misleading.

In fact and the real world, not the advertising brochures of PETscan manufacturers, radiologists and oconologists know that a PETscan can miss a cancer tumor, especially a recurrence of a tumor, with it happening frequently for base of tongue cancers. I had railed against the disclaimers in my PETscan reports until my October 2008 Petscan showed extremely high SUV on the right side of my jaw and tongue with "normal" SUV on the left side where I had had a tumor.
Yet the January 2009 MRI/CT scan my ENT ordered after confirming with my ROs how sketchy PETscans are for BOT, clearly showed the tumor back on the left side right admist the normal "non-lit up" area of the PETscan. It also showed the right side light up was a false positive. Surgery in March 2009 confirmed the MRI/CT exactly as well as highlight the dual false negative and false positive of the PETscan.
Trust me, if it was a case of a radiologist botching the readings or some mistake, I would have sued but my CCC went out of its way to walk me thru the images, the technology and answer all my questions in a personal session with the Director. They were open and candid about the limitations of the PETscan, especially for BOT tumors.
It's much better for front of the mouth stuff but it most definitely NOT accurate to say [quote]a PET scan shows the difference between healthy and cancer cells metabolizing sugar.[/quote] All a Petscan does is measure how much sugar any cell is taking up. It's just extrapolation as to whether that sugar uptake is "normal", recovering tissue or cancer.
If you have or have had BOT cancer, don't rely just upon petSCANS.
Charm