Skeletal scintigraphy in the inital assessment of women with breast cancer.

The results of 99mTc bone scanning have been retrospectively analyzed on 467 women admitted with a newly diagnosed breast cancer. The outcome of skeletal scintigraphy has been studied with reference to various prognostic variables. 9.8% of the women exhibited a positive scintigram. We could not find any influence of the tumour position on the frequency of positive bone scans. Age in relation to the menopause affected the rate of positive scans in that about three times as many positive scans were recorded in post menopausal women than in those who had not reached the menopause. Clinical staging according to the TNM system as well as the histological status of the axillary nodes correlated well with the rate of scintigrams that indicated a disseminated cancer disease. The tumour size, as measured in the operation specimen, strongly affected the frequency of positive and suspicious scans in accord with the prognostic significance of this parameter. The role of skeletal scintigraphy for an adequate staging of breast cancer patients is discussed.