Bone scan (BS) and serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration are used to detect bone metastasis in malignancy, although whole-body fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) is being used increasingly. But BS is still used for the detection of metastatic bone lesion. So we compared the usefulness of PET/CT, BS, and serum ALP in detecting bone metastases in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. The medical record database was queried to identify all patients with a new diagnosis of lung cancer between January 2004 and December 2005, who had a PET/CT, BS, and serum ALP before treatment. We retrospectively reviewed all patients' records and radiological reports. One hundred eighty-two patients met the inclusion criteria. Bone metastases were confirmed in 30 patients. The sensitivity values were 93.3% for PET/CT, 93.3% for BS, 26.7% for serum ALP concentration, and 26.7% for BS complemented with serum ALP concentration. The respective specificity values were 94.1%, 44.1%, 94.1%, and 97.3%. The kappa statistic suggested a poor agreement among the three modalities. FDG PET/CT and BS had similar sensitivity, but PET/CT had better specificity and accuracy than BS. PET/CT is more useful than BS for evaluating bone metastasis. However, in the advanced stage, because of its high specificity, BS complemented with serum ALP is a cost-effective modality to avoid having to use PET/CT.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase/*blood ; Bone Neoplasms/diagnosis/radionuclide imaging/*secondary ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/diagnosis/pathology ; Carcinoma, Small Cell/diagnosis/pathology ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/*diagnostic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology ; Male ; Medical Records ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiopharmaceuticals/*diagnostic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate/*diagnostic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Whole Body Imaging/methods

Bisphosphonates are potent inhibitors of bone resorption and widely used to treat osteoporosis. Extensive studies have shown that therapy with bisphosphonates improves bone density and decreases fracture risk. However, concerns have been raised about potential over-suppression of bone turnover during long-term use of bisphosphonates, resulting in increased susceptibility to and delayed healing of non-spinal fractures. We report a patient who sustained non-traumatic stress fractures in bilateral femoral shafts with delayed healing after long-term bisphosphonate therapy. She underwent open reduction and surgical internal fixation. Although bisphosphonates effectively prevent vertebral fractures, and their safety has been tested in randomized trials, we must emphasize the need for awareness of the possibility that long-term suppression of bone turnover with bisphosphonates may eventually lead to an accumulation of fatigue-induced damage and adverse skeletal effects such as delayed fracture healing.
Bone Density/drug effects ; Diaphyses/drug effects/injuries ; Diphosphonates/*adverse effects ; Female ; Femoral Fractures/*chemically induced/diagnosis/surgery ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Fracture Healing/drug effects ; Fractures, Spontaneous/*chemically induced/diagnosis/surgery ; Fractures, Stress/*chemically induced/diagnosis/surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Osteoporosis/*drug therapy ; Radiopharmaceuticals/diagnostic use ; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate/analogs & derivatives/diagnostic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Whole Body Imaging