PET Scan Funding in Canada

The clinical use of positron emission tomography (PET) in Canada continues to expand, primarily for the evaluation and management of several types of cancer.

As of November 2007, there were 22 centres performing publicly funded PET scans in seven Canadian provinces.

• Click to view the location of the scanners as well as the cyclotron and FDG manufacturing sites 

• Click to view privately owned PET centres in Canada

The largest expansion of PET services has occurred in Quebec, with a 14-fold increase in operational funding since 2005. It is anticipated that by early 2009 there will be a total of 12 PET/CT scanners performing clinical scans in Quebec following the installation of five new scanners at hospitals in Trois-Rivières, Gatineau, Rimouski, Chicoutimi, and Quebec City.

Provincial Funding for PET Scans

• Alberta will fund approximately 3,500 clinical PET scans in 2008 from global regional health budgets.
  Source: Dr. Sandy McEwan, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton.
  
  
• British Columbia funds 3,000 PET scans annually at the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Centre.
  Source: Dr. Don Wilson, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver.
  
  
• Manitoba is funding up to 1,000 PET scans annually from global regional health budgets. This will double to 2,000 scans annually when a new cyclotron becomes operational in Winnipeg in early 2008.
  Source: Shirley Dzogan, Manitoba Health, Winnipeg.
  
  
• New Brunswick’s operational funding is set at $1.335 million to perform 600 PET scans annually with one PET/CT scanner in Saint John. This funding is expected to double when a second PET/CT scanner opens in Moncton in 2008 or 2009.
  Source: François Varin, Department of Health, Hospital Services, Fredericton.
  
  
• Nova Scotia will fund 1,500 PET scans annually when a new PET/CT scanner opens in February 2008. Operational funding is set at $1.9 million per year while FDG is supplied from Sherbrooke, Quebec. Funding will decrease to approximately $800,000 annually when a new cyclotron and FDG manufacturing site open in Halifax in 2009.
  Source: Abe Almeda, Nova Scotia Department of Health, Halifax.
  
  
• “Ontario provides funding for PET scans through clinical trials, two registry studies, and the Ontario PET Access Program. Three active clinical trials evaluate the role of PET in the diagnosis and staging of head and neck cancer, metastatic lung cancer, and colorectal cancer with liver metastases. Two clinical trials (on potentially resectable non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer) have completed patient accrual and the results are being analyzed. The Ontario PET Steering Committee is considering indications for new clinical trials. The Ontario Cancer PET registry study coordinated by Hamilton Health Sciences Centre provides PET scans for patients with a solitary pulmonary nodule, potentially resectable non-small cell lung cancer, or suspected recurrent cancers (thyroid, germ cell, and colorectal) with elevated tumour marker but negative anatomical findings in traditional imaging tests. The Ontario Cardiac PET Registry Study led by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute provides FDG PET myocardial viability assessments to patients with severe ventricular dysfunction being considered for revascularization or a heart transplant. Patients who are not candidates for the clinical trials or registry studies may apply for a PET scan through the Ontario PET Access Program. A panel of an oncologist, a nuclear medicine physician, and a radiologist reviews each application on a case-by-case basis, and determines whether a PET scan would be appropriate. The number of PET scans being provided in Ontario is not limited by funding, but depends on patient need. Based on current indications recommended by the Ontario PET Steering Committee, approximately 2,000 PET scans are currently anticipated in fiscal year 2007/2008.”
  Submitted by: Shirley Lee, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Medical Advisory Secretariat, Toronto.
  
  
• Quebec will fund 21,000 PET scans at 12 scanning facilities during 2008. Operational funding for the scans is approximately $14 million.
  Source: Serge Péloquin, Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec, Quebec City.