Clinical significance and outcome of one or two rib lesions on bone scans in breast cancer patients without known metastases

The association between skeletal lesions and tuberculosis diagnosis using a probabilistic approach

Sensitivity and specificity estimates for 18 skeletal lesions were generated from modern skeletons for future paleoepidemiological analyses of tuberculosis prevalence in archaeological samples. A case-control study was conducted using 480 skeletons from 20^th century American skeletal collections. One-half of the skeletons were documented tuberculosis cases (Terry Collection). The remaining age and sex-matched skeletons were controls (Bass Collection). The association between 18 candidate skeletal lesions and tuberculosis was established by comparing lesion distributions in case and control groups. Lesion indicators at six locations - visceral surface of ribs, ventral vertebral bodies, lateral part of ilium, acetabular fossa, iliac auricular surface, and ulna olecranon process - occurred significantly more often among cases than in controls, and were associated with one another. The most useful indicator proved to be a bony reaction on ventral thoracic and lumbar vertebral bodies. Its presence means a 53.3% probability of a true tuberculosis diagnosis. Because of the nature of the reference sample - 20th century American cases - sensitivity and specificity estimates will better estimate disease prevalence in archaeological samples from cultural settings where pulmonary tuberculosis predominated. The general approach of this proof-of-concept study is applicable to other diseases that occur commonly and affect bone.

MRI and Bone Scintigraphy for Breast Cancer Bone Metastase: A Meta-analysis

Objective

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance image (MRI) and bone scintigraphy (BS) in the diagnosis of breast cancer bone metastases.

Methods

Searching in the databases including PubMed, Embase about the comparative study of MRI and bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis of breast cancer bone metastases during 2000~2018. After we screened further, the extracted effective data were calculated by Meta-Disc 1.4 software.

Results

We obtained 4 articles. The pooled estimates for sensitivity of MRI, BS were 0.99 (95% CI, [0.95, 1.00]) and 0.93 (95% CI, [0.88, 0.97]) respectively; For specificity were 0.99 (95% CI, [0.95, 1.00]) and 0.86 (95% CI, [0.79, 0.92]) respectively. The AUC of SROC curve for MRI and BS were 0.9948 and 0.9675 respectively.

Conclusion

MRI remains to be a satisfactory method for the diagnosis of breast cancer bone metastases and should first be considered for patients.

Follow-up bone scan in breast cancer patients: what is the appropriate interpretation of purely rib uptake?

AIM

Although rib uptake is frequently detected in follow-up bone scans of breast cancer patients, few studies have assessed its clinical significance.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Among 1208 breast cancer patients who underwent a bone scan between 2011 and 2014, 157 patients presented with newly detected rib uptake at follow-up. Patients who had underlying bone metastases (n=8) or had simultaneous new uptake in sites other than the rib (n=13) were excluded. The patients enrolled finally were those who had purely rib uptakes. The location, intensity, and final diagnosis of the uptake were evaluated by nuclear medicine physicians.

RESULTS

A total of 275 new instances of rib uptake were detected in follow-up bone scans of 136 patients. These were more frequently located on the ipsilateral side of the breast cancer (61.1%) and the anterior arc (65.1%), and they presented as moderate to intense (93.1%) uptakes. Among these, 265 lesions in 130 patients turned out to be benign fractures (96.4%), whereas only 10 lesions in six patients were metastases. The proportion of metastases was significantly higher if the uptake was linear or if the patient had recurrence. It was marginally higher if the uptake was located in the posterior arc. The proportion of metastases within the radiation field was significantly lower in patients with a history of irradiation.

CONCLUSION

Newly detected purely rib uptake on a follow-up bone scan in patients who have been treated for breast cancer is mostly because of fractures and rarely signals metastasis. However, if the patient has disease recurrence, metastasis should strongly be suspected, particularly when uptake is linear or located in the posterior arc.

Risk of metastasis among rib abnormalities on bone scans in breast cancer patients

Bone scan abnormalities, especially rib lesions, are often confusing for physicians due to a high number of false-positive lesions. This study investigated risk factors that are associated with bone metastasis in 613 breast cancer patients with bone scan abnormalities. Significantly increased rates of bone metastasis were observed in patients with multiple lesions, large tumor sizes, and lymph node involvement. In addition, patients with concurrent lesions of rib and other sites exhibited a significant higher rate of metastatic disease compared to those with other site lesions (P = 0.009). In the subset of 324 patients with rib abnormalities, the rate of metastasis was extremely low in patients with pure rib lesions (1.2%; 95% CI: 0.1%-4.1%). Concurrent lesions of rib and other sites were more likely to be rib metastasis compared to pure rib lesions (P < 0.001). Moreover, multiple rib lesions and lesions located on bilateral ribs were more likely to be rib metastasis (P < 0.001). Our data suggest that patients with pure rib abnormalities could be recommended for follow-up only. However, if concurrent lesions of rib and other sites were detected on bone scans, additional radiological examinations should be performed to patients.

MRI findings of new uptake in the femoral head detected on follow-up bone scans

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this article is to suggest clinical indications for MRI in patients with breast cancer who have new uptake lesions in the femoral head on follow-up bone scans, by evaluating the incidence and causes of new uptake lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Between January 2002 and July 2013, a total of 145 patients with breast cancer who showed new uptake in the femoral head on follow-up bone scans were included in our study. They were classified into two groups: group 1 consisted of 125 patients without known bone metastases, and group 2 consisted of 20 patients who already had bone metastases other than that in the femoral head. The Fisher exact test was performed for the statistical analysis. Thereafter, we reviewed MR images for characterization of the new abnormal uptake in the femoral head. RESULTS. New uptake lesions in the femoral head were metastatic in only 4.8% (6/125) of group 1 patients but in 75% (15/20) of group 2 patients (p < 0.0001). In both groups, no patient with a single uptake lesion in the femoral head had bone metastasis, whereas all patients with more than five new uptake lesions, including those of the femoral head, showed bone metastasis. Most MRI diagnoses for new uptake in the femoral head were fibrocystic change (15/30, 50%) and subchondral fracture (11/30, 36.7%). CONCLUSION. Most of the new uptake lesions in the femoral head detected on the follow-up bone scans in patients with breast cancer were benign. However, MRI could be considered in patients with known bone metastasis or with multiple new uptake lesions on bone scans.