DETECTION OF BONE-MARROW METASTASES IN SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER - COMPARISON OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING WITH STANDARD METHODS

In small cell lung cancer (SCLC), bone marrow metastases are frequentl y detected by bone scintigraphy (BS) and/or unilateral bone marrow bio psy and aspiration (BMBA). In this study, the value of magnetic resona nce imaging (MRI) of thoracic spine and pelvis was compared with BS an d BMBA and its clinical implication was evaluated in 42 patients with SCLC. Patients were staged (including BS, BMBA, CT thorax, Liver ECHO) as limited (LD) or extensive disease (ED) before and after MRI. MRI w as positive in 12 BS negative (P = 0.003) and in 14 BMBA negative pati ents (P < 0.001), while in 8 patients, MRI was the only sign of ED, wh ich resulted in a decrease of patients categorised with LD from 52 to 33%. However, in this small group of LD patients, there was no signifi cant survival difference between LD (MRI pos) and LD (MRI neg) patient s. It is concluded that MRI can be of value in the staging of LD patie nts, but it has no influence on survival. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd