Baseline diagnostic imaging in early breast cancer—Five-year analysis of a large cohort

17059 Background: Many patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer undergo multiple investigations as part of baseline staging, although the evidence base for this is poor. To assess the use of baseline diagnostic imaging and its benefit a review of practice was carried out. Methods: A retrospective review of all patients diagnosed with breast cancer in St James's Hospital in Dublin, Ireland over a five-year period was carried out. Baseline demographics and the appropriateness of baseline diagnostic imaging were assessed. Results: Between 01/01/2001 and 12/31/2005 781 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in St James's Hospital, of whom 776 were women and 5 were men, with a mean age of 56.7 years. At diagnosis 266 patients (34%) underwent a bone scan, which showed evidence of skeletal metastases in 42 (15.8%). Of the patients with positive bone scans 26 (61.9%) were symptomatic with bone pain, and 16 (38.1%) were not. In the 16 patients without bone pain a diagnostic workup for metastatic disease was...