Outpatient Radioablation Therapy for Thyroid Cancer Patients with Minimal Radiation Exposure to the Family Members.
- Author:
Hee Myung PARK
1
;
Jung Woong JANG
;
Hee Chul YANG
;
Young Gook KIM
Author Information
1. Myongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Kwandong University, Goyang, Korea. hmpark@iupui.edu
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
thyroid cancer;
radioablation;
radiation exposure;
outpatient therapy
- MeSH:
Humans;
Informed Consent;
Mortality;
Outpatients*;
Recurrence;
Thyroid Gland*;
Thyroid Neoplasms*
- From:Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2007;41(3):218-225
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Postoperative thyroid remnant radioablation therapy is necessary to reduce the recurrence and mortality rates as well as to prepare the patients for a proper long term surveillance of well-differentiated thyroid cancers. The radiation safety rules of the government require the patient to be isolated in a hospital if the expected radiation exposure to the family members would be greater than 5 mSv (500 mRem). The purpose was to measure the radiation received by the family members of patients who received large doses of NaI-131. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have administered 12 therapy doses ranging from 3.70-5.55 GBq (100 to 150 mCi) to 11 patients, and released them immediately if they met the radiation safety criteria. Informed consent was obtained from the subjects prior to the therapy, and each of them agreed to follow written radiation safety instructions. TLD badges were used to measure the radiation dose received by the family members and the room adjacent to the patient's bed room during the first 72 hours. RESULTS: The average dose received by the family members who spent the most time in the closest distance with the patients was 0.04 mSv with a range of 0.01-0.17 mSv. Even the highest dose was only about 3% of the limit set by the government. The average radiation dose to the outer wall of the patient's room was 0.15 mSv. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that I-131 ablation therapy can be administered to outpatients safely to thyroid cancer patients who meet the established radiation safety criteria and follow the instructions.
