Radioisotope bone scanning for the detection of occult bony metastases in invasive cervical carcinoma.

Radioisotope bone scans to search for occult skeletal metastases at initial staging were obtained in 540 patients with invasive cervical carcinoma admitted to the Gynecological Oncology Unit of the Tygerberg Hospital over a 36-month period. Positive scans were reported in 55 (10.2%) patients but subsequent radiographic examination revealed that of these, 43 were false positive. The 11 patients with bony metastases were all initially classified as Stage III or IV disease irrespective of the bone scan and the positive scans influenced the clinical staging in only 6 (1.1%) patients. All the bone scans in the 210 patients with clinical Stage I or II disease were negative. Bone scanning does not seem warranted at initial staging in Stage I or II invasive cervical carcinoma.