title: Superscan in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Bone scintigraphy plays an important role in the early detection of bone metastases in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and serial scans may aid the clinician to assess the therapeutic response. A superscan is a pattern described as abnormal bone scan, indicating extensive bony metastases associated with various neoplastic diseases. Bone scans from 407 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma were reviewed retrospectively. Only six superscans (1.5%) were found. The appearance of a superscan is frequently accompanied by an abnormal titer of serological markers IgG-VCA and IgA-VCA, liver metastases, and poor survival. Although a superscan rarely occurs in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, its appearance may represent a poor prognosis in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology