AN EVALUATION OF RADIONUCLIDE BONE SCANNING AND LIVER ULTRASONOGRAPHY FOR STAGING BREAST CANCER

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Abstract
The use of nuclear bone scanning and liver ultrasonography to stage breast cancer is an established practice in many hospitals. A 3 year prospective study was undertaken to assess the usefulness of these two investigations. Three hundred and fifty-eight patients were analysed: 133 had stage 1 disease, 188 were stage 11 and 37 were stage III. Bone scans were performed on 339 (94.7%) patients; 302 had stage I or stage II disease: and 37 were stage III. Bone scans were positive for metastases in only 0.9% of stage I and II patients but were positive in 16.2% of patients with stage III disease. None of the 309 (96.2%) stage I or stage II patients who had an ultrasound scan had any liver metastases detected whereas positive scans were obtained in 5.4% of stage III patients. It can be concluded that the incidence of demonstrable bone or liver metastases in stage I and stage II breast cancer patients is so low that the use of routine scanning can be abandoned.