bone scan hot spots disappear after chemo

[aquanis]

I am finding it hard to get an answer from medical team.  Stage III BC - uptake shown on baseline bone scan in ribs, skull and lung. Further bone scan after chemo shows that these spots have now disappeared. Doctors are saying this could be a coincidence, are there any statistics on the likelihood of hot spots disappearing because of chemo/passage of time (3 months) and it NOT being metastatic disease?

[japdip]

Bone scan can certainly show "hot spots" that are not cancer related. I had a spot show up in my jaw that actually was an abscessed tooth that had been removed several months before the scan was done. This is a very sensitive test. If an area were metastisis and responded to Chemo I suppose it could disappear on the scan.  If these "hot spots" are no longer there then it's a good thing ... never mind the "why" of it all.  Regards ..

[aquanis]

Thanks very much for the reply but I guess for me I need to 'know' with as much certainty as I can whether it was bone/lung mets or not. Of course it is good that they have gone away but am trying to assess the likelihood of them popping up elsewhere. I guess I'm not looking so much at the "why" but the "what" if that makes sense!

[katarina777]

Makes a lot of sense. I don't know, but I would also care very much to know if this was me.

[katarina777]

read the second to last message on the post above about :"Anyone chose not to have chemo?" There is a comment that should be of great interest to you, and quite relevant by MissButterfly, or similar.

[aquanis]

thanks so much katarina!

[japdip]

I understand your need to know but when dealing with breast cnacer as well as many diseases there is no 100% certainty. You're correct it is good that the "hot spots" are no longer there but you must know that once diagnosed with BC, no matter what the treatment and no matter how long we have been NED there is always the possibility of a recurrance or even another primary cancer. It is far from pleasant but it unfortunately the truth. We have to continue to be vigilant but at the same time not spend the rest of our lives looking for that possibility of recurrance or metastisis.  Regards ...