Radio-iodine therapy in differentiated thyroid cancer: indications and procedures.

Authors: Reiners C, Dietlein M, Luster M
Post-surgical ablative iodine-131 therapy is recommended for all differentiated thyroid cancer primary tumors >1cm in diameter. Regarding smaller primary tumors, (131)I ablation may be helpful in special cases: tumor close to the thyroid capsule, previous percutaneous radiation to the neck, familial occurrence of thyroid cancer, tumor diameter 5-10mm, and unfavorable histological variants. In this context, the patient's preferences for safety should be considered. In most centers, standard fixed activities of 1-3 GBq are used for (131)I ablation. Preparation for the procedure with such activities requires a low-iodine diet for 2-3 weeks and stimulation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) by withholding of thyroid hormone for 3 weeks followin...