title: [Imaging bone metastases in breast cancer].
abstract: Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy and bone is the most common site of distant metastases. Early detection and accurate assessment of bone involvement is needed to optimize treatment and therefore reduce or delay skeletal-related events. We discuss the different bone imaging modalities with emphasis on nuclear medicine techniques. Currently, whole body bone scintigraphy (BS) is recommended in selected patients at high risk of bone metastases (BM). New hybrid cameras combining 3-D scintigraphic images and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) improve diagnostic accuracy of BS. The 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) seems to exhibit higher specificity and accuracy to detect BM in breast cancer. FDG PET/CT could be a useful tool for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment of breast cancer BM. Recent whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques could become an additional tool to assess bone involvement from breast cancer. No consensus has been yet established regarding the best modality for diagnosing breast cancer BM and for assessing its response to treatment. The best approach is probably the combination of the different imaging modalities knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each technique.
authors.affiliation: Département de Médecine interne, Service de Médecine nucléaire, CHU de Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Withofs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collignon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hustinx
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000556:secondary*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging