Bone Scans in Preoperative Investigations of Breast Cancer Cases

Background: Breast cancer constitutes about 28% of all new cancer diagnoses in women, making it the most frequently diagnosed cancer among them. Our objective was to assess the role of bone scans (BS) in preoperative investigations of breast cancer.

Methods: This study involved 105 patients with varying stages of breast cancer, ranging from T1 to T4. We categorized them into three groups: group 1 comprised 40 women with breast cancer who underwent retrospective BS, group 2 included 30 patients with breast cancer who prospectively did not require BS for all cases, and group 3 consisted of 35 women retrospectively diagnosed with breast cancer who did not necessitate BS for all cases. The diagnosis of bone metastasis was confirmed upon obtaining a positive result through bone scintigraphy, subsequently affirmed by another imaging technique such as CT, X-ray, or MRI.

Results: The hospital costs were significantly lower in groups 2 and 3 compared to that of group 1, indicating that performing a BS for every case is unnecessary. It was observed that the time taken for surgery was notably shorter in groups 2 and 3 compared to that of group 1. BS in cases classified as M stage were deemed both costly and time-consuming.

Conclusions: Routine BS are not cost-effective and represent an unnecessary investment of time. They should not be deemed mandatory as preoperative investigations in breast cancer cases. Instead, they should be considered in conjunction with MRI, particularly in cases of T4 breast cancer.