Bone mets question can anyone please help me to understand?

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Cosmogirl
Cosmogirl Member Posts: 30
edited July 2016 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Can anyone explain why my oncologist tells me they seem to have only found my bone mets once they had healed through treatment?Apparently my bone mets would have been there when I was first diagnosed, it was only after the chemotherapy I had for 6 months that bone mets healed had showed on the ct scan I accept this even though I really do not understand?

I pushed for another ct scan because of bone pain and when I went for my results my oncologist said there had been 4 more bone mets found in my bones instead of the original 2 previously. The oncologist and his team had a meeting to compare my scans and have now told me the 4 new mets found would have been there all along and have only shown because have responded to treatment and are now sclerotic in nature.

If mets only show up once they have healed what about any mets that might be elsewhere?

None of this makes sense its driving me mad

I am on zoladex and tamoxifen

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited July 2016

    I am no medical authority so this is all speculation. Bone mets that are not healed do show on imaging, however I imagine they have to be of a certain size before imaging can pick them up. My, unhealed bone met was found during a PET unrelated to bc. I had never had chemo or any tx at the time, nor did I have pain or symptoms, but it was clearly visible on the scan and later confirmed by biopsy. So maybe your mets were too small to be detected at the time of your scans , but have left visible evidence as they've healed.

    Wishing you the best

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  • Kandy
    Kandy Member Posts: 1,461
    edited July 2016

    Caryn is right, they do have to be a certain size before imaging will pick them up. Each modality is also different on what that size has to be. CT is not the best for imaging bone for mets. PET scans and bone scans will show lesions much quicker. I hope your treatment goes well.

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  • ibcmets
    ibcmets Member Posts: 4,286
    edited July 2016

    I agree with both responses. I have spinal bone mets & need to do PET scans where mets need to be 2cm to show up. They will show up as healed lesions when treated but will still show up.

    Terri

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  • Cosmogirl
    Cosmogirl Member Posts: 30
    edited July 2016

    Thank you very much exbrnxgrl, Kandy and ibcmets that has made much more sense to me! plus I'm having a bone density scan next week so hopefully that will show lesions if ct hasn't shown everything.

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  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited July 2016

    Hi Cosmogirl, just so you are not disappointed, if you are going for a bone density test (a DEXA), that isn't going to show lesions. It's going to measure the density of your bones so the doctors can determine if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis.

    If you're having a bone scan, that's different. That's the one where you get an nuclear medicine injection and it does show lesions.

    Different imaging for different purposes. . . (like CT, PET and MRI all show different things)

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