Nuclear Imaging of Bone Tumors: Thallium-201 Scintigraphy

ABSTRACT

²⁰¹Tl scintigraphy provides important information for the management of patients with bone tumors. Although the role for staging the disease of bone tumors and for differentiation of benign from malignant lesions is limited, ²⁰¹Tl scintigraphy reflects the disease activity after treatment and it should be used to determine the treatment response and for early diagnosis of recurrence. Baseline study is essential for future reference to evaluate the response to preoperative chemotherapy and to detect recurrence after surgery. Sequential ²⁰¹Tl scintigraphy before and after treatment is useful in assessing the grade of response of the tumor to chemotherapy. The early prediction of chemotherapeutic effect by ²⁰¹Tl scintigraphy during treatment will affect the management of patients who do not respond to the therapy. This is of special importance to determine whether the patient needs an amputation or a limb-salvage surgery.

KEYWORD

Thallium - bone tumor - chemotherapy

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