Scintigraphy with 57Co‐bleomycin in the detection of lung cancer: A review of 268 well‐documented patients

Over a 5‐year period 57Co‐bleomycin scintigraphy for tumor detection was performed with a large‐field‐of‐view gamma camera. The scintigrams of 268 patients with lung cancer, with a benign lesion, or with no abnormality in the chest, were reviewed. A sensitivity of 96% was found. In a group of 193 patients in whom a preoperative pathologic diagnosis could not be obtained sensitivity was 95%, specificity was 87%. Correlation between tumor size and tumor‐to‐non‐tumor ratio was established for squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and small cell anaplastic carcinoma. Adenocarcinomas were smaller and showed lower tumor‐to‐non‐tumor ratios than other histologic types. In squamous cell carcinoma a possible correlation between tumor‐to‐non‐tumor ratio and histologic differentiation was investigated, but could not be established. It is concluded that 57Co‐bleomycin scintigraphy is helpful in the evaluation of patients with possible lung cancer in whom a preoperative pathologic diagnosis cannot be obtained.