case studies

Breast Cancer

Patient History
A female with previously treated carcinoma of the breast presented with a four month history of persistent cough. Bronchoscopy showed an occluded apical segment of the left upper lobe, and CT showed minimal changes only with some possible soft tissue shadowing around the left hilum. A Whole Body PET Scan was performed to assess the likelihood of metastatic disease or indeed a new primary carcinoma of the lung.

Scan Findings
The PET scan showed strikingly abnormal uptake. There are innumerable foci of abnormal activity throughout the skeleton, bilateral hila, mediastinal nodes, cervical nodes, and lung.

Conclusion
The appearance of the scan suggested widespread disseminating metastatic disease. Subsequent supraclavicular node biopsy confirmed this to be the case.

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