PET SCAN Vs BONE SCAN

[gandhi]

hi, my mother showed metastatic cancer as suggested by Biopsy  , along with Bone Scan which showed cancer in the left breast ((Infiltrating duct carcinoma)recurrent lump in the breast -FNAC) and at the Costochondral junction (abnormal increased tracer concentration at 7th and 8th ribs-bone Scan) along with traces in bones(corrobrated with mammography). But after a week a PET scan conducted showed abormality only in the left breast (3cm), the subarterial region under it , and in a lymph node under the left arm. It did not show any abnormality in the bones or the abovementioned ribs? How is the PET result to be interpreted Versus the Bone Scan -i.e. is there a metastasis in the 7th and 8th ribs as shown by the bone scan but not by PET, or not?

[often]

I certainly can't answer the question, you will want to discuss with the doc...but....the bone scan will show arthritis and that could have been interpreted as cancer.   A few years back I had an xray for a different matter, arthritis showed up and because of my history of bc, they advised further tests, suggesting that it was mets...after a bone scan (inclonclusive), an MRI (inconclusive), a CT (inconclusive) my onc finally sent me for the PET...no cancer.   I believe you will find that the PET scan is far more accurate for cancer diagnosis.