Abstract
Roentgenographical examinations carried out on patients affected with skeletal and pleuro-pulmonary metastases from breast cancer following adreno-oophorectomy are reported. The nature and extent of the roentgenographic changes and the time interval between the operation and their appearance are particularly considered. Such changes consist in: 1) constant and often durable regression of pleural effusion; 2) persistence, generally, of parenchymal nodular manifestations and aggravation of hilar lympangitic processes.
In skeletal metastases the changes show a gradual and slow occurrence, consisting at first in slight calcification spots followed by gradual reduction of the osteolytic area from the peripheral to the central zone. A reestablishment of the normal bone structure with osteosclerosis is occasionally observed in some foci, whereas others do not show any changes.
The assumption is derived, especially from case of long-term observation, that the reestablishment of bone lesions is followed by a renewal of osteolysis.
The examination of the treated cases does not show a correlation between observed changes, patients age and histological type of the primary mammary tumour.
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