Role of radionuclide bone scanning in early detection of metastasis in mandibulofacial bones

ABSTRACT

The metastatic tumours in the lower jaw is far less frequent than primary tumour. There is a wide variety of a late stage of primary tumours elsewhere in the body which metastatize in the mandible as cancer in breast, thyroid gland, prostate, lungs and kidneys. By conventional radiography it is difficult to recognize any metastatic foci in the mandible. The bone scanning by scintigraphy is an important method for staging the cancer and demonstration of metastatic lesion in the bone before it is evident radiographically. The aim of this study is to reveal the major role of scintigraphy in early detection of mandibular metastasis from body cancer. Thirty cancer patients were selected from El-Kasr El Eini Center of Raditation Onocology and Nuclear Medicine. Each case subjected for radiographic examination and radionuclide bone scanning of the skull. The results showed a marked superiority of scintigraphy in early demonstrating of mandibulofacial bones metastasis than in x-ray where the radiographic changes in the bone are discernible only where there has been an increase or decrease in calcium content around 50%. So it is recommended to utilize bone imaging in examination of the mandible in patients with body cancer before using radiography