PET in oncology

Postgraduate course

Course description

Objectives and Content

Aims:

  • Basic competence for selecting patients for positron emission tomography (PET) in prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours
  • Basic competence for reading PET exminations in prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours
  • Knowing different radioactive tracers for diagnosing and staging of cancer
  • Be able to process one or several PET studies in the same patient with diagnostic software

Topics

  • [18F]PSMA PET for patient work-up in prostate cancer
  • [18F]DOTATOC PET (and analogue tracers) and [18F]FDG for work-up of neuroendocrine tumours (e.g. karsinoid)

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student ..

  • has a basic understanding of imaging with different radioactive tracers for cancer imaging
  • has basic knowledge on the the different imaging modalities (e.g. PET and CT) for cancer imaging.

Skills

The student ..

  • can visualize and interpret PET/CT for cancer in dedicated software
  • can work out a basic reatment plan for prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors dependent on the imaging findings
  • Can provide constructive feedback to colleagues

General competence

The student ..

  • understands how clinical presentation and imaging determine cancer treatment
  • understands to which degree protocols for diagnosing and treating patients are based on clinical studies

ECTS Credits

1 ECTS credit. Elective e-course (approx. 30 h)

Level of Study

Master

Semester of Instruction

Spring and Autumn

Place of Instruction

E-course on mitt.uib.no
Required Previous Knowledge
Have completed medical studies at Bachelor level
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Nuclear medicine (MED5), onkology (MED10)
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
None.
Access to the Course
4th to 6th year of medical studies
Teaching and learning methods
The course is purely electronic. Web lectures on the Internett are complemented by e-learning material in the Learning Management System (LMS). Several quizes require that you have access to the national imaging database for nuclear medicine in the Norwegian Health Network (not accessible via Internet).
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Listen to the weblectures. Complete the tasks in the learning management system.
Forms of Assessment
You must pass all quizes in the learning management system with at least 80 % of points. There is no limit on the number of attempts, but after each invalid attempt students will be locked out for a short refractory period.
Grading Scale
Pass/Failed
Reading List
  • Farolfi A, Calderoni L, Mattana F, Mei R, Telo S, Fanti S, et al. Current and emerging clinical applications of PSMA-PET diagnostic imaging for prostate cancer. J Nucl Med. 2021 Mar 12 (ePub)
  • Sabet A, Dautzenberg K, Haslerud T, Aouf A, Sabet A, Simon B, et al. Specific efficacy of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with (177)Lu-octreotate in advanced neuroendocrine tumours of the small intestine. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2015 Jul;42(8):1238-46.
  • Course Evaluation
    All students are required to respond to an anonymous survey after completion of the course. The survey assess user satisfaction with the different components of the course (lectures, articles, cases) and invites students for comments in freetext format. The feedback from the students will be collected after each term and used to improve the course.
    Examination Support Material
    There is no examination beyond the learning tasks in the learning management system.