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Diagnostic performance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT and bone scintigraphy in breast cancer patients with suspected bone metastasis

Breast Cancer volume 23, pages 662–667 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

We prospectively compared the diagnostic accuracies of PET/CT and BS in patients with suspected bone metastases from breast cancer.

Methods

This single-institution prospective study included consecutive patients with suspected bone metastases from biopsy-proven breast cancer seen at Tokai University Hospital between September 2011 and March 2014. Inclusion criteria included suspicions for bone metastases (bone pain, elevated alkaline phosphatase, elevated tumor markers, or suspected bone metastases by BS). Two nuclear medicine physicians evaluated PET/CT and BS images.

Results

Thirty patients were initially enrolled in this study. Two were excluded from the analyses because they declined to undergo imaging during follow-up. PET/CT successfully detected bone metastases in all 10 patients finally diagnosed with the condition, whereas BS identified 2. The two methods were not highly concordant in detecting osseous metastases. In 19 of 28 paired studies (68 %), 2 (10 %) were positive for metastasis, and 17 (90 %) were negative. Nine occurrences (32 %) were discordant; of these, 2 were PET/CT positive and BS negative; 5 were PET/CT positive and BS equivocal; one was PET/CT negative and BS equivocal, and one was PET/CT equivocal and BS negative.

Conclusions

Our results indicated that PET/CT was superior to BS for the diagnosis of bone metastases. On the basis of the results of previous studies as well as ours, PET/CT could replace BS as the initial modality to detect bone metastases in patients suspected for the condition.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage for providing editorial assistance. This study was supported by MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number 26870597, and Tokai University School of Medicine Research Aid, 2013–2014.

Conflict of interest

Yutaka Tokuda received a research grant from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Eisai Co. Ltd and Novartis Pharma L.K. The other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa, 259-1193, Japan

    Naoki Niikura, Rin Ogiya, Mayako Terao, Risa Oshitanai, Toru Morioka, Banri Tsuda, Takuho Okamura, Yuki Saito & Yutaka Tokuda

  2. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan

    Jun Hashimoto, Toshiki Kazama, Jun Koizumi & Yutaka Imai

  3. Department of Target Therapy Oncology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

    Naoki Niikura & Keiko Iwaisako

  4. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

    Takayuki Iwamoto

  5. Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, St. Luke’s International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

    Naoki Hayashi

Authors
  1. Naoki Niikura
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  2. Jun Hashimoto
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  3. Toshiki Kazama
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  4. Jun Koizumi
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  6. Mayako Terao
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  7. Risa Oshitanai
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  8. Toru Morioka
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  9. Banri Tsuda
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  10. Takuho Okamura
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  11. Yuki Saito
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  12. Keiko Iwaisako
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  13. Takayuki Iwamoto
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  14. Naoki Hayashi
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  15. Yutaka Imai
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  16. Yutaka Tokuda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naoki Niikura.

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Cite this article

Niikura, N., Hashimoto, J., Kazama, T. et al. Diagnostic performance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT and bone scintigraphy in breast cancer patients with suspected bone metastasis. Breast Cancer 23, 662–667 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-015-0621-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12282-015-0621-z

Keywords

  • PET/CT
  • Bone scintigraphy
  • Breast cancer
  • Bone metastases