《TAIPEI TIMES》 University sets up dedicated PET-CT scanner for pets

By Wu Po-hsuan / Staff reporter

National Yang-Ming University yesterday announced that it has set up the nation’s first positron emission tomography-

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computed tomography （PET-CT） scanner for pets.

There are about 2.5 million pets in Taiwan, and just like their owners, dogs and cats can also get cancer, with a high incidence rate of about 54 percent, the university said.

Common cancers in cats and dogs include osteosarcoma （the most common bone tumor in dogs）, squamous-cell carcinoma （a type of skin cancer）, melanoma, lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma （a malignant tumor of the blood vessels） and breast cancer, and PET-CT scans can help veterinarians diagnose cancer.

Wu Tung-hsin （吳東信）, a professor at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, established the Creatively Translational Animal Imagining （CTAI） Center to provide PET-CT scans for pets.

“Pets cannot talk, so it is important that we have such an instrument to help us diagnose their problems,” Wu said, adding that PET-CT provides high-resolution images to increase diagnostic accuracy.

Wu said that three years ago a student brought a nine-year-old husky to the laboratory for an examination because it had a lump in its neck and walked with a limp.

Using a PET-CT scan they found that the dog had thyroid cancer, which had metastasized into its leg bone.

Due to the accurate diagnosis and the dog’s determination, it recovered after receiving radiation therapy and was able to walk and jump normally, he said.

“Using PET-CT scan in veterinary medicine is a ‘win-win’ for both animals and humans,” Wu said.

Offering precision examinations to diagnose cancer in animals might also provide valuable clinical information for the development of pet cancer treatments, Wu said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

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