Evaluation of gallium-67 in the diagnosis of bronchial carcinoma

Twenty-four patients with carcinoma of the bronchus had lung scans performed with gallium-67. The results were compared with corresponding chest radiographs. In four patients who had been treated with radiotherapy or cytotoxic drugs, there was no uptake of isotope in the lesion. The isotope, however, identified the neoplasm accurately in 17 out of the 20 cases (85%). The relative distribution of isotope in neoplastic tissue and adjacent inflammatory reaction is discussed as well as those cases in which either the radiograph or the scan failed to demonstrate the malignant lesion. Gallium scanning in this study failed to indicate the extension of growth into the mediastinal glands.