CT scans and cancer risk: What patients need to know
A computerized tomography scan, also called a CT scan, provides detailed images of your body to help doctors diagnose and treat various health conditions, including cancer. However, there have been concerns about the potential cancer risks associated with the radiation exposure from repeated scans.
Here I’ll explain how CT scans work, their important role in diagnosing and treating cancer, and how we minimize radiation exposure...

Standardized uptake value (SUV) numbers on PET scans: What do they mean?
An FDG PET scan uses a radiotracer to measure things like blood flow, oxygen use and sugar metabolism in your body. It shows how your tissues...
Looking forward to a bright future in health care
More than 5,000 students and trainees pass through MD Anderson each year. But when our Diagnostic Imaging teams went to offer full-time roles...
CT scan vs. MRI: What’s the difference?
You may already know that MRIs and CT scans are two of the imaging methods doctors use to diagnose and stage cancer.
But do you also understand what the difference is between them? And, how physicians decide which one is most appropriate for you?
To answer these and six other questions, we went to Melissa Chen, M.D., a neuroradiologist who specializes in the diagnosis of brain tumors and head and neck cancers....

Familial adenomatous polyposis monitoring, Whipple procedure gave my husband more time
When he was 15, my husband Jesse underwent a colectomy, a procedure that removed his colon. Jesse opted to do this after learning that he...
How a brain tumor taught me to embrace myself
My whole life changed in June 2017. I had just finished my sophomore year at Texas Tech University. My life seemed pretty simple. I went to...
Metastatic melanoma survivor: 'Coming back to MD Anderson is a great feeling'
In May 2016, Victor Barreiro learned his melanoma, originally treated in his hometown of Mexico City in 2014, had returned and spread throughout...
Brain tumor treatment reveals hidden artistic talent
My husband, Coleman Schoessow, draws vibrant, abstract, stream-of-consciousness art with ink on canvas. He discovered this hidden talent during...
Finding purpose in my breast cancer diagnosis
Rebecca Stedman believes that every experience had in life serves a purpose, and cancer is no exception.
“Just as I felt like I was...
Pancreatic cancer survivor: Clinical trial gave me my life back
Sometimes I forget that I have pancreatic cancer because I just don’t believe it’s going to kill me.
In fact, I’ve never felt healthier...