According to a pair of clinical studies appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, thyroid cancer patients may benefit from a safer, lower dose of radioactive iodine as adjuvant therapy following surgery, as opposed to a traditionally higher dose.
The studies compared the outcomes of over 1000 European thyroid cancer patients who received Thyrogen or thyroid hormone withdrawal as part of the therapy.
In both studies, researchers found that patients given the low-dose (30 millicuries) of radioactive iodine in combination with Thyrogen were just as likely to have their remaining thyroid cells mopped up (i.e.adjuvant therapy), with far fewer side effects, than those patients given higher-dose (100 millicuries ) radioiodine along with either Thyrogen or hormone withdrawal.
Researchers did say however that the patients need to be monitored long-term to make sure recurrence rates do not differ between the two groups.
Traditionally, high doses of radioactive iodine has been associated with the development of secondary cancers later in life along with vomiting and nausea, so a lower dose would be welcome by this patient population.
Source: US News & World Report
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