Indium chloride bone marrow scanning in advanced prostatic carcinoma

¹¹¹In (Indium)-chloride bone marrow scans were obtained in 17 patients with Stage D prostatic carcinoma to evaluate bone marrow involvement and reserve. All patients had multiple skeletal lesions demonstrated by technetium 99-pyrophosphate bone scan and/or skeletal survey. Bone marrow peripheral expansion, manifested by increased ¹¹¹In uptake in the humeri and femora, was seen in 7 of the 17 patients. Six of these 7, 86 percent, had severe anemia requiring blood transfusions. Only one of the 10 patients, 10 percent, who did not show peripheral expansion of the bone marrow required transfusion. The tumor showed inconsistent uptake of the ¹¹¹In-chloride. In 2 of the patients increased uptake was found in tumor areas; in 5 decreased uptake, or cold area, was seen at involved sites, but not in 10 of the 17 the uptake in tumorous areas did not differ from the surrounding tissue. While ¹¹¹In-chloride is not effective in localizing metastases from prostatic carcinoma, it is accurate in evaluating bone marrow reserve. The future usefulness of this technique may be in predicting hematologic toxicity caused by chemotherapy.