EVALUATION OF BONE METASTASES DETECTION USING BONE SCINTIGRAPHY IN PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men

worldwide, with a high propensity for skeletal metastasis. Bone scintigraphy remains a widely accessible and cost-effective imaging modality for detecting bone metastases, though its diagnostic accuracy in local populations requires systematic evaluation.

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of bone scintigraphy for detecting bone metastases in prostate cancer patients and to establish the correlation between bone scintigraphy findings and clinical parameters including PSA levels and Gleason score.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional diagnostic study was clinical done on dataset of 101 prostate cancer patients. Statistical analyses including Mann-Whitney U tests, chi-square tests, multivariate logistic regression, and ROC curve analysis were performed using Python programming environment.

Results: Patients with malignant disease had significantly higher PSA levels compared to benign cases (mean 15.67 ± 8.94 vs. 8.42 ± 4.31 ng/mL; p < 0.001). In patient-based analysis of 101 patients, 30 (30.8%) showed skeletal metastasis on bone scintigraphy, while 71 (71.2%) were negative. One scintigraphy showed a sensitivity of about 85%, specificity of about 68%, PPV of about 81%, and NPV of about 74% when ambiguous and malignant findings were considered positive.

Conclusion: Bone scintigraphy demonstrates reasonable sensitivity for detecting bone metastases in prostate cancer patients, with diagnostic accuracy significantly enhanced when combined with PSA levels. The modality remains a valuable first-line imaging tool, particularly in resource-constrained settings where advanced hybrid imaging may not be readily available.