Value of bone scanning in detecting occult skeletal metastases from adenocarcinoma of the endometrium.

Bone scans were obtained in patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterus in order to search for occult skeletal metastases. Radiological studies in 350 patients with adenocarcinoma of the uterus treated at the University of Kentucky Medical Center were reviewed. All patients studied in Stage 1A, Stage 1BG1, and Stage G2 were negative. Bone scans performed since 1973 were reviewed. One out of 11 patients studied with G3 lesions had a positive scan. Four out of 41 patients with Stage 2 lesions had positive scans, seven out of 18 in Stage 3, and two out of nine in Stage 4 disease. Four out of 71 patients with recurrent tumor had positive scans. In general, all positive scans were associated with significant symptoms in the patients studied. The results correlated well with x-ray findings as evaluated by conventional radiologic studies.