The Relevance of Osteoscintigraphy Technique in Early Detection of Bone Metastatic Lesions: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Background. Due to intensive blood supply to the red bone marrow, as well as high adhesive abilities of tumor cells, bone tissue is a perfect structure for the metastatic process. Timely identification of the pathological process is highly relevant, since data from numerous sources on the use of radiation methods at later stages indicate the development of severe pathological conditions leading to neurological deficiency and significant decrease in a patient’s quality of life. Objective: to summarize data on the diagnostic effectiveness of osteoscintigraphy (OSG), as well as to conduct a comparative analysis of various diagnostic methods in bone metastases detection. Material and methods. The review was performed according to PRISMA standard (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). It included only full-text articles published in the period from 2015 to 2022, as well as particularly important publications from 2005 to 2014. The search for articles was carried out independently using CyberLeninka, eLibrary, Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE databases, by key terms without the use of language restrictions: “osteoscintigraphy”, “radiology’, “tumors”, “bones”, “diagnosis”. Results. The final analysis included 56 scientific articles by a qualitative indicator. The advantages and disadvantages of the methods, as well as indications for the use of various diagnostic techniques in bone metastatic lesions detection were presented. It was shown that OSG will cost 6 times cheaper than positron emission tomography (PET), and 3 times cheaper than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The analysis of using radiation methods demonstrated that the specificity of computed tomography and radiography was at a high level, but this techniques had less pronounced sensitivity, and MRI, OSG and PET had greater sensitivity, but insufficient specificity. In the initial stage of the disease, OSG is one of the main methods of metastatic lesions visualization, but not the only way of diagnosis in diversification strategy aspect. Conclusion. OSG is an effective and informative technique for early detection of bone metastases, allowing to assess the functional state of the tumor and its surrounding tissues, even before the appearance of structural disorders visible by other diagnostic methods. To improve the accuracy of the study, it is advisable to use a set of radiation diagnostic techniques. The choice of a particular method is determined by its technical capability and financial availability.