The AMA recently released the 2009 CPT codes that will be effective January 1, 2009. As a reminder, CMS no longer allows a grace period for implementation of any code sets. This year you will find some minor changes in the nuclear medicine procedure code section. Specifically, there is one new code and there are two deleted codes in the nuclear medicine section.

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In response to a data collection effort by the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) showing that PET scans can help improve cancer patient survival, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should consider the expansion of coverage of PET for all types of cancer, according to the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) and other nonprofit medical associations.

The PET coverage comment period ended Oct. 17, and a decision is expected early next year.

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The September 2008 GAO report on the effects of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) on medical imaging reimbursement revealed that the DRA cuts were far deeper than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) initially stated. This GAO report confirms 2005 ACR statements that the cuts are approximately three times that of the initial Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.

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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both women and men in the United States, accounting for about 29% of all cancer deaths.  Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women. According to the National Institute of Health, it is estimated that 215,020 men and women (114,690 men and 100,330 women) will be diagnosed with and 161,840 men and women will die of cancer of the lung and bronchus in 2008.

Only about 2% of those diagnosed with lung cancer that has spread to other areas of the body are alive five years after the diagnosis, although survival rates for lung cancers diagnosed at a very early stage are higher, with approximately 49% surviving for five years or longer.

The American Cancer Society identifies cigarette smoking as the most important risk factor for lung cancer. Risk increases with quantity and duration of cigarette consumption. As part of an effort to raise national awareness of the dangers in smoking, the American Cancer Society has scheduled the Great American Smokeout (GASO) for November 20, 2008.

For more information about Lung Cancer

The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) has created the Molecular Imaging Clinical Trials Network in response to the need for streamlined processes for using imaging biomarkers in clinical research and practice.

There is widespread agreement that the use of imaging biomarkers in the drug development process can reduce the complexity and cost of the regulatory process and speed the timelines to clinical use. SNM has designed a model for the use of imaging biomarkers in clinical trials that spans drug development, molecular imaging, radiolabeled probe development and manufacturing and regulatory issues to integrate the use of investigational imaging biomarkers into multicenter clinical trials, according to SNM President Robert W. Atcher, PhD.

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Molecular imaging researcher Roger Tsien, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with two other American scientists for the discovery of green fluorescent protein and the creation of fluorescent molecules that are often used to track subcellular structures during in vivo molecular imaging.

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