• Question: how do you image cancer ?

    Asked by anon-201773 to Sophia on 12 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Sophia Pells

      Sophia Pells answered on 12 Mar 2019:

      Radioactive atoms are attached to a drug which is designed to stick to cancer. The drug is then injected into a person and goes to any cancer in their body. We can use either SPECT or PET scanners to take photos of gamma rays being emitted by the radiation so we can see where the drug has gone and hence where the cancer is. The radiation only lasts for a few hours, so the person is not radioactive for very long.

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