Sequential scintigraphic staging of small cell carcinoma.

Thirty patients with small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung were sequentially staged following a history and physical exam with liver, bran, bone, and gallium-67 citrate scans. Scintigraphic evaluation disclosed 7 of 30 patients (23%) with advanced disease, stage IIIM1. When Gallium-67 scans were used as the sole criteria for staging, they proved to be accurate and identified six of the seven patients with occult metastatic disease. Gallium-67 scans proved to be accurate in detecting thoracic and extrathoracic metastases in the 30 patients with SCC, especially within the liver and lymph node-bearing area. The diagnostic accuracy of gallium-67 fell in regions such as bone or brain. Despite the limitations of gallium-67 scanning, the authors conclude that these scans are useful in staging patients with SCC and should be the initial scans used in staging such patients.