Daily Times

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) in Peshawar completes another milestone on its four-year anniversary with the commencement of PET CT scanning facility. In this groundbreaking step, SKMCH&RC has brought the first PET CT scanning system to northern Pakistan. This also marks the inauguration of the Nuclear Medicine services at SKMCH&RC, Peshawar. In six months’ time comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic applications of Nuclear Medicine will be available to the patients of the region.

Nuclear Medicine employs minute amounts of radioactive material called radiopharmaceuticals to study the function of body systems and organs. PET CT scan is one of the most advanced hybrid imaging modalities for cancer patients. Majority of the cancer patients require multiple PET C T scans during the course of the treatment. It is primarily used for staging after diagnosis, during treatment for treatment response assessment and at the end of treatment to ensure the patient has no traces of cancer in the body.

This step is of tremendous benefit for cancer patients who previously had to travel to Lahore to seek this service in a long and costly journey. On average, around a hundred patients will benefit from this service every month, majority of whom are underprivileged cancer patients receiving free treatment at the Hospital.It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s first PET CT scanning system was installed at SKMCH&RC in Lahore in 2009. Today SKMCH&RC has the largest Nuclear Medicine facility in Pakistan with currently two functional PET CT machines in Lahore and Peshawar, with a third scanner to be installed in Lahore in near future. Installation of the PET CT scanning system at SKMCH&RC in Peshawar will enable us to continue to provide the best level of care to our patients from the KPK and surrounding areas, 75% of whom receive financially supported treatment.