[The efficacy of bone scintigraphy screening in postoperative follow-up of breast cancer patients].

Discussed are 110 breast cancer patients given surgery, totaling 70 stage 1 cases, 22 stage II cases, 15 stage III cases, and 3 stage IV cases, that were routinely followed-up postoperatively at 6 or 12-month intervals, said follow-ups including bone scintigraphy screening. Among 394 bone scintigrams taken of these 100 patients, 15 new cases of a bone metastasis were detected, 9 of which had either a local recurrence or an associated metastasis at the time that their bone metastasis was detected. In only 1 case, at more than five years after surgery, was a bone metastasis detected by bone scintigraphy, and even this case had another metastasis at that time. Therefore, the value of bone scintigraphy screening as part of the follow-up of postoperative breast cancer patients is questioned.