Imaging techniques and guidelines for evaluation and follow-up of breast cancer patients.

The use of imaging procedures for breast cancer staging and follow-up should be based on the natural history of the disease as well as the accuracy, cost, and availability of the studies themselves. Early detection of metastases may provide palliation but probably does not affect survival. For staging, chest X-ray and mammogram are both recommended on all patients; radionuclide bone scan is advised in the presence of either an elevated alkaline phosphatase, axillary metastases, or a primary tumor measuring more than 2 cm; abdominal CT should be performed if liver chemistries are abnormal; CT brain scan is the procedure of choice for neurological symptoms. Chest CT should be reserved for selected patients with an abnormal chest X-ray. Follow-up recommendations include annual chest X-rays and mammogram, bone scans every 5 years when a staging scan was indicated, and CT of the liver and/or brain in the presence of appropriate symptoms or laboratory values.