Cerianna™ PET Scanning Tracer
Newswise — Hackensack University Medical Center became the first hospital in the Hackensack Meridian Health hospital network to perform PET scans using the new Cerianna tracer to track breast cancer metastases in patients whose tumors are fueled by estrogen. The test is now also available at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, New Jersey. The technology boosts the ability of doctors to gauge the extent of a patient’s breast cancer spread, monitor the response to treatment, and choose the most effective therapies.
Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning has long been used in cancer care. It works by visualizing how cancer cells consume glucose (sugar), enabling physicians not only to view a patient’s internal anatomy but to image cancer cell activity as well. Cerianna (fluoroestradiol F18) takes that technology a step further by pinpointing the location of breast cancer cells throughout the body which contain receptors (proteins) on their surfaces for estrogen.
About 80% of people with breast cancer have such “estrogen receptor (ER)-positive” tumors. They are often treated with medications that interfere with the ability of estrogen to bind to breast cancer cells or which inhibit estrogen production. But sometimes cancers find a way to continue to grow and spread throughout the body despite these therapies, and other treatment approaches are needed.
“Cerianna is the first imaging agent that allows us to specifically visualize ER-positive breast cancer cells, sparing patients from invasive biopsies. People in New Jersey can now get Cerianna PET scanning close to their homes,” explained Jesse William, Chief Technologist of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT at Hackensack University Medical Center. “Doctors can use it to see how well a patient is responding to therapy and modify the treatment, if needed, to choose one that is more effective.”
Cerianna is indicated for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have confirmed or suspected ER-positive lesions. The experience of a patient undergoing PET scanning with Cerianna is similar to conventional PET scanning. Like other tracers, Cerianna is given through an intravenous (by vein) injection.
For more information or to refer a patient to Hackensack Meridian Health, called 844-HMH-WELL.
ABOUT HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
Hackensack University Medical Center, a 803-bed nonprofit teaching and research hospital, was Bergen County’s first hospital founded in 1888. It was also the first hospital in New Jersey and second in the nation to become a Magnet®-recognized hospital for nursing excellence, receiving its sixth consecutive designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The academic flagship of the Hackensack Meridian Health network, Hackensack University Medical Center has a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the highest rating offered by the federal agency’s Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating Program. Hackensack University Medical Center is ranked #1 in N.J. by the annual U.S. News & World Report 2023-24 Best Hospital rankings - the only N.J. hospital with the #1 adult and children’s hospital rankings. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report ranked Hackensack University Medical Center #6 overall in the New York Metropolitan area and #32 in the nation. The hospital also earned multiple recognitions for high-performing procedures and conditions that include having the following best nationally-ranked programs in NJ: Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery (#42); Pulmonology and Lung Surgery (#24); Geriatrics (#36). Hackensack University Medical Center is the only NJ hospital nationally ranked in Neurology and Neurosurgery (#22), Urology (#27) and Orthopedics (#33) as well as being home to The John Theurer Cancer Center, a premier cancer center in the state. Named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals 2023 list, Hackensack University Medical Center is also the recipient of the 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ by Healthgrades as well as an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group. This award-winning care is provided on a campus that is home to facilities such as the Heart & Vascular Hospital; and the Sarkis and Siran Gabrellian Women’s and Children’s Pavilion, which houses the Donna A. Sanzari Women’s Hospital and the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, also ranked #1 in the state and top 20 in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-24 Best Children’s Hospital Report. Additionally, the children’s cancer, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, and urology programs ranks in the top 50 in the United States. Hackensack University Medical Center is listed on the Green Guide’s list of Top 10 Green Hospitals in the U.S. Our comprehensive clinical research portfolio includes studies focused on precision medicine, translational medicine, immunotherapy, cell therapy, and vaccine development. The hospital campus is also home to the Helena Theurer Pavilion, the largest healthcare expansion project ever approved by the state: The 530,000-sq.-ft., nine-story surgical and intensive care tower is considered N.J. 's first ‘smart hospital’ and houses 24 state-of-the-art operating rooms with intraoperative MRI capability, 50 ICU beds, and 175 medical/surgical beds including a 50 room Musculoskeletal Institute.
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