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World J Radiol. Aug 28, 2015; 7(8): 202-211
Published online Aug 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i8.202
Imaging of bone metastasis: An update
Gerard J O’Sullivan, Fiona L Carty, Carmel G Cronin
Gerard J O’Sullivan, Fiona L Carty, Carmel G Cronin, Department of Radiology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin 7, Ireland
Author contributions: O’Sullivan GJ, Carty FL and Cronin CG contributed equally to this work; O’Sullivan GJ wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Carmel G Cronin, MB, BCh, BAO, Consultant Radiologist, Department of Radiology, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland. ccronin@mater.ie
Telephone: +353-1-8032274 Fax: +353-1-8032970
Received: July 17, 2014
Peer-review started: July 19, 2014
First decision: November 27, 2014
Revised: February 13, 2015
Accepted: June 18, 2015
Article in press: June 19, 2015
Published online: August 28, 2015
Processing time: 411 Days and 8.4 Hours
Abstract

Early detection of skeletal metastasis is critical for accurate staging and optimal treatment. This paper briefly reviews our current understanding of the biological mechanisms through which tumours metastasise to bone and describes the available imaging methods to diagnose bone metastasis and monitor response to treatment. Among the various imaging modalities currently available for imaging skeletal metastasis, hybrid techniques which fuse morphological and functional data are the most sensitive and specific, and positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography and PET/magnetic resonance imaging will almost certainly continue to evolve and become increasingly important in this regard.

Keywords: Neoplasm metastasis; Radionuclide imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Computed tomography; Bone and bones

Core tip: Early detection of skeletal metastasis is critical for accurate staging and optimal treatment. This paper briefly reviews our current understanding of the biological mechanisms through which tumours metastasise to bone and describes the available imaging methods to diagnose bone metastasis and monitor response to treatment.