Diagnostic value of Tl-201 and three-phase bone scintigraphy for bone and soft-tissue tumors

Purpose: Although TI-201 is highly sensitive for detecting bone and soft-tissue tumors, its uptake is not specific for malignant lesions. This study assessed the differentiation of malignant and benign lesions and evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of TI-201 imaging and three-phase bone scans. Materials and Methods: Forty bone and soft-tissue tumors (16 malignant and 24 benign) were evaluated. TI-201 static images were acquired 10 minutes (early) and 2 hours (delayed) after injection of the radionuclide. Within 14 days, three-phase bone scintigraphy was performed using Tc-99m HMDP with the patient in the same position. The count ratio of the lesion compared with the normal contralateral or adjacent site (L:N ratio) was measured. Results: With TI-201 scintigraphy, mean (+/- SD) values of early and delayed L:N ratios were 3.36 +/- 1.25 and 2.88 +/- 1.20, respectively, in malignant lesions; and 1.88 +/- 1.14 and 1.48 +/- 0.76, respectively, in benign lesions. TI-201 accumulation in benign lesions was significantly less than that of malignancies on early and delayed images. However, an overlap of both ratios between malignant and benign lesions was seen. No such significance was detected on three-phase bone scintigraphy (L:N ratios of malignant and benign tumors were 2.57 +/- 1.22 and 2.24 +/- 2.11,respectively, for brood flow imaging; 2.41 +/- 0.78 and 2.26 +/- 1.54, respectively, for blood pool imaging; and 2.80 +/- 2.10 and 2.89 +/- 4.55, respectively, for bone imaging). When we assumed that the tumor was malignant when the delayed TI-201 L:N ratio exceeded the blood pool phase L:N ratio with bone scintigraphy, the sensitivity rate was 81%, specificity rate was 100%, and accuracy rate was 93%. Conclusions: TI-201 imaging for bone and soft-tissue tumors was better than three-phase bone scintigraphy alone but was not good enough to clearly differentiate malignant lesions from benign ones. Tl-201 scintigraphy, performed in combination with three-phase bone scintigraphy, may be superior to either one of the two imaging procedures alone for bone and soft-tissue tumor diagnosis.