Contemporary approaches for imaging skeletal metastasis

Abstract

The skeleton is a common site of cancer metastasis. Notably high incidences of bone lesions are found for breast, prostate, and renal carcinoma. Malignant bone tumors result in significant patient morbidity. Identification of these lesions is a critical step to accurately stratify patients, guide treatment course, monitor disease progression, and evaluate response to therapy. Diagnosis of cancer in the skeleton typically relies on indirect bone-targeted radiotracer uptake at sites of active bone remodeling. In this manuscript, we discuss established and emerging tools and techniques for detection of bone lesions, quantification of skeletal tumor burden, and current clinical challenges.