Fig. 6

Evaluation of the progression monitoring abilities of the serum levels of bone biochemical markers and the diagnostic model. a The lead time of the diagnostic model of bone metastasis was 5.00–17.63 months, compared with the date of bone scan diagnosis for 16 patients with stage IV lung cancer who developed bone metastasis during follow-up. b The changes in the serum levels of bone biochemical markers in patients with lung cancer who developed or remained free of bone metastasis during follow-up. For each patient, the changes in the serum levels of bone biochemical markers during follow-up were calculated as [% year change (median)] = [(follow-up level − initial level) / (2 * initial level)]. The bars represent the % year changes (median). The actual P value indicated in the figure refers to a comparison of the % year changes between the two groups. The # indicated in the figure represents P < 0.05: comparison between the follow-up levels and the initial levels within each group separately. c The diagnostic model logit (p) of the initial levels and follow-up levels of patients with lung cancer who developed or remained free of bone metastasis during follow-up. The horizontal line on the figure represents the median of the scatter plots for this group. ***P < 0.001, comparison between the follow-up levels and the initial levels in each group separately