48. Radioiodine therapy in the diseases of the thyroid gland.

• Radiotherapy
  • Patients must follow rules to avoid radiation burden for other people
    • Like keeping distance from people, etc
• Therapy of thyroid diseases
  • Iodine-131
    • Given orally, is taken up by thyroid cells, where it is trapped
    • Decays into
      • Beta radiation -> damages thyroid tissue
      • Gamma radiation -> can be detected with gamma camera
    • Indications
      • Post-thyroidectomy due to cancer
        • Especially when the whole thyroid hasn’t been removed to preserve the parathyroids
      • Metastatic thyroic cancer
      • Thyroid ablation in hyperthyroidism
• Therapy of other cancers
  • Radium-223 – produces alpha radiation
    • Prostate cancer
    • Bone metastases