[Diagnostic imaging for therapy control of primary bone tumors]

Adjuvant chemotherapy has significantly improved the prognosis of patients with bone sarcomas. Preoperative diagnostic imaging of tumor response to such therapy has become a mainstay for the assessment of prognosis, planning of surgery and further treatment. During therapy, responding tumors show characteristic changes on conventional radiography, angiography, sonography, radionuclide studies, CT and MR. The usefulness and the limitations of each imaging modality in assessing response to therapy are reviewed. The diagnostic importance of specific changes such as tumor volume reduction, calcification and tumor vascularization is discussed.