Detection of skeletal metastases in Nigerian breast cancer patients: evaluation of radioisotope bone scan and radiography.

38 Nigerian patients with stage III breast cancer who presented with bone pain to the Department of Radiation Biology and Radiotherapy, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos between 1977 and 1984 were screened for bone metastases using skeletal survey and radio-isotope bone scan. A comparison of the results revealed that there was correlation in the results of both investigations in 36.8% of patients. In the remaining 63.3% there was a significant uptake of radio-isotope on bone scan while corresponding skeletal survey radiographs were negative. However every patient with known metastases on skeletal survey also had an abnormal bone scan. Possible explanations are given for the rather large proportion of our patients who had abnormal bone scan but normal radiographs.