Bone scan necessary?

I am a 20 year breast cancer survivor.  I haven't had a bone scan for 10 years. I asked my doctor if I should have one and he said that it was not necessary. Is this correct?

[tink73094]

when did u get breast cancer?

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

Breast cancer could spread to the bones and so a bone scan is done as a baseline and then as a follow up depending on the symptoms and the doctor's advise.

Do you have any symptoms that would make a bone scan necessary?

Talk to your doctor about you wanting to get a bone scan done and he/she would agree to it.

A repeat scan would need to be done only in case of symptoms or when your doctor thinks it necessary.

Hope this helps.

Let us know if you have any more doubts.

Regards.

[lhughes]

My mom has regular bone scans, once every 2-3 years.  She had breast cancer back in the mid-late '90s.  She's also menopausal, was on hormone therapy before BC, and took tamoxifen after BC.  

If you took any med that would have had an impact on your bones, I would think that a bone scan every so often would be a good thing to do just to make sure you haven't any other issues along with any potential cancer spread.  I think it's just a good safeguard.

I have routine bone scans every year since I was Stage III back in '05.  But, that's just my docs regimen and don't know how long that will continue.  I assume it will continue for as long as I take the Tamoxifen.

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

How are you doing now? Have you talked to your doctor about a bone scan as yet?

Are you having any symptoms?

What medications are you taking curently? What was the type of cancer and the subsequent treatment in your case?

Keep us posted.

Regards.

[Gabby1951]

Most definitely!  I only wish my doctor had ordered one for me after my chemo was over, instead of a PET scan every 3-6 months!  I have breast cancer mets to spine! It is very, very painful!  And incurable!

[abcc]

Before a bone scan you should have a blood test to measure your liver enzymes. If they are negative then it's unlikely you would have bone cancer. A bone scan is that is positive means stage 4 breast cancer and you would most likely have other symptoms by then.