Bone Scintigraphy

      Sometimes cancer cells tend to propagate to other regions of the body. They are then called metastases. In prostate cancer, the metastases are located mostly in the bone. They are then called bone metastases. A bone scintigraphy is an exam that shows images of the bony skeleton. It allows detection of bony metastases.

    During this exam, through an arm or leg vein a product that gets fixed to the bone, is injected. It is called the radioactive trace. It permits detection of anomalies more easily. This product gets fixed to the whole skeleton, but more intensely to the cancerous cells, rendering them more visible.

   A bone scintigraphy is neither dangerous nor painful. After the exam the patient is advised to drink a lot of water in order to eliminate the product. It can happen that the images show abnormal results even though there are no cancerous cells within the bones. It is usually the case in the case of athrosis and other bone diseases.