The predictive value of serial bone scans in assessing response to chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer

A retrospective analysis was made of 25 patients with breast cancer treated only with chemotherapy in order to determine the predictive value of technetium-99m bone scanning in determining response to chemotherapy. Whole-body scanning demonstrated bone healing in only 3 of 25 patients. However, the presence of stable disease on bone scan correlated with a good prognosis as 12 patients with stable scans had a significantly longer survival time than did the 13 patients who showed progression on scans (17.7 and 7.8 months, respectively P less than 0.01 greater than 0.005, Wilcoxan). Our analysis indicates that bone scans are a relatively crude technique for monitoring response to chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.