different scans- their strengths and short comings

[acaliforniamom]

Can a bone scan really reveal all? The radiologist thought my x-ray showed "progression of disease" but the bone scan did not show any new areas of increase uptake.  How can this be?  What kinds of questions would prompt the doctors to take a second look or seek more data rather than just say "let's ignore the x-ray" because the bone scan in a more sensitive test."  The x-ray is showing something: bone healing: increased calcium uptake due to zometa? increased cancer, other?  I'm stage 4 with multiple know mets to back hip, femur, ribs and perhaps chest although the doctor doesn't do CT's to follow the chest saying all he needs are bone scans.  Can a bone scan really reveal all? When is it appropriate to use multiple types of scans?  It matters because it would help to know if the current thearpy-  Aramadex, zometa & zoladex for over a year- is still working.  Thanks for your information.

[japdip]

Yes, Bone Scan would be the ultimate in showing detail of what's going on. PET is also often used when breast cancer is involved but I personally feel that scans should be limited to only the absolutely necessary. Each type of scan shows things in a different manner and Bone scan often follows regular X-ray. I had regular X-ray that showed nothing in particular but with Bone Scan it was an entirely different story. Regards ...