nkmccarthy7
Posts:1

My husband has rare stage 4 basal cell cancer. He is having a great deal of hip pain. The oncologist ordered a CT scan of his chest to check on the cancer and included a CT scan of his lower body with contrast. He said that would let them double check his hip. The results do not even mention his bones. They do specify where they see things and the organs that appear normal. Does that mean the bones are clear?
Thank you!

Forums
Full Archive

Reply # - August 3, 2015, 07:08 PM

JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi nkmccarthy7,

Welcome to GRACE. Various types of scans can be used to detect bone mets, including a bone scan, CT, MRI and PET. Each of them has their strengths and weaknesses, as shown in this information from the American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/understandingyourdiagnosis/bonemetastas…

As you can see, it is possible for each type of scan to miss a particular bone met, although one which is causing such pain would most likely show up on any of the scans.

JimC
Forum moderator

Previous PostNext Post