Young adults who received radioactive iodine therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer were at 92% increased risk for leukemia and 23% increased risk for any solid malignancies vs. those who did not receive radioactive iodine therapy.
How long does radioactive iodine stay in your system?
RAIT exceeding 100 mCi was strongly associated with the development of leukemia in a nationwide, population-based study, while lower RAIT doses were not. ... The use of radioactive iodine therapy (RAIT) is increasing in thyroid cancer management. The association between RAIT at high doses and leukemia is well known, but studies of this ...
What are the side effects of radioactive iodine (RAI)?
Oct 22, 2021 · Young adults who received radioactive iodine therapy for differentiated thyroid cancer were at 92% increased risk for leukemia and 23% increased risk for any solid malignancies vs. those who did...
Does well-differentiated thyroid cancer increase risk of leukemia?
Sep 25, 2017 · They found 148,215 patients with WDTC diagnosed between 1973 and 2014. Fifty-five percent had had surgery alone and 45 percent surgery plus radioactive iodine, or RAI. Forty-four patients developed acute myloid leukemia after surgery, compared with 56 who received surgery plus radioactive iodine.
Does radioactive iodine therapy increase the risk of leukemia?
Oct 30, 2018 · You can expect to live a fairly normal life after radioactive iodine treatment but your life will probably not be exactly as it was before your procedure. For most people, this means that you can expect to live at 80-90% of your 'normal'.
Can Rai cause leukemia?
Very high doses of RAI (exceeding 600 mCi) have been known to increase the risk of acute leukemia. However, leukemia following a lower dose of RAI can also occur.
Can radioactive iodine cause other cancers?
This new analysis concluded that radioactive iodine was associated with an increased risk for mortality from overall cancer, breast cancer, and non-breast solid cancers.Jan 18, 2022
Can thyroid cancer become leukemia?
Previous studies have shown that patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) who are treated with resection followed by radioactive iodine (RAI) have a small but significant risk of developing leukemia.Apr 12, 2018
Can you get thyroid cancer after radioactive iodine treatment?
This systematic review and meta-analysis found no significant risks of total cancer incidence or mortality after RAI therapy for hyperthyroidism, except for thyroid cancer. However, the DRMA found that increases in the RAI dose were associated with increases in mortality from solid cancer and breast cancer.Sep 17, 2021
What are the long term effects of radioactive iodine?
NCI study finds long-term increased risk of cancer death following common treatment for hyperthyroidism. New study findings show an association between the dose of a common treatment for hyperthyroidism and risk of death from solid cancers.Jul 1, 2019
What are the long term effects of radioactive iodine treatment?
Reported long-term side effects were benign thyroid nodules, multinodular benign goiter, hyperparathyroidism, and papillary thyroid carcinoma. These side effects affecting thyroid tissue were only reported in cases in which the RAI treatment aim was euthyroidism.
What are the chances of getting cancer after thyroid cancer?
The risk of developing second cancers after a primary thyroid cancer varied from 10% to 150% depending on different cancer types. Cancers in all sites, breast, skin, prostate, kidney, brain, salivary gland, second thyroid, lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia were elevated.
What are the signs of thyroid cancer returning?
Signs and symptoms of thyroid cancer recurrence may include:Neck swelling or a lump in the neck that may grow rapidly.Neck pain that starts in the front of the neck and sometimes extends to the ears.Trouble breathing or swallowing.Voice changes or hoarseness.Continuous cough not related to a cold.Mar 21, 2022
Can you get cancer after thyroidectomy?
During the follow up of patients who underwent total thyroidectomy, the rise in thyroglobulin levels or in thyroglobulin antibodies without rise in thyroglobulin levels are usually indicative of recurrence of thyroid cancer.Aug 22, 2019
Is thyroid cancer curable?
This gland produces hormones that regulate your metabolism (how your body uses energy). Thyroid hormones also help control your body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. Thyroid cancer, a type of endocrine cancer, is generally highly treatable with an excellent cure rate.Aug 13, 2020
Does thyroid cancer shorten your life?
Disease-free patients after thyroid carcinoma have a normal residual life span. In contrast, in cases of persistent disease the life expectancy ranges widely with its median being reduced to 60%. Overall, treatment including radioiodine is safe but unsuccesful in 20% of the patients....All patientsNo.%M138819 more rows
Does radioactive iodine treatment shorten your life?
Quality of life is worse at 6-10 years after radioactive iodine therapy of Graves' disease compared with treatment with antithyroid drugs or surgery. Quality of life is worse at 6-10 years after radioactive iodine therapy of Graves' disease compared with treatment with antithyroid drugs or surgery.
Study shows risk of overtreating patients
Previous studies have shown that patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) who are treated with resection followed by radioactive iodine (RAI) have a small but significant risk of developing leukemia.
Small but significant risk
Dr. Mukherjee and his colleagues did a retrospective analysis of patient data from 1973 to 2016, using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) registries of the National Cancer Institute, to identify the risk of development of several types of hematologic malignancies in WDTC patients treated with RAI.
Survival lower for patients with AML
Dr. Mukherjee and his co-authors also found that the patients who developed AML and CML did so quickly — within one or two years of receiving surgery and RAI. RAI was associated with decreased leukemia-free survival for AML and CML in these patients.
Overtreating with radioactive iodine
The researchers’ data show that the use of RAI has gone up significantly in the U.S. in the past four decades from about 5 percent in 1973 to 50 percent in 2016. “That’s a staggering increase,” Dr. Mukherjee says.
American Thyroid Association
Pasqual E, et al. OR-14. Presented at: American Thyroid Association Annual Meeting; Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021 (virtual meeting).
Increased cancer risk observed decades after radioactive iodine treatment
Pasqual E, et al. OR-14. Presented at: American Thyroid Association Annual Meeting; Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021 (virtual meeting).
How many times more likely is AML to develop after thyroid surgery?
After adjusting for age, sex, and year of thyroid cancer diagnosis, researchers discovered that patients who had both surgery and RAI were 5.6 times more likely to develop AML than the general population, where AML occurs at a lower rate. The risk peaked in the first three years after treatment with RAI.
What is WDTC in medical terms?
Researchers decided to study cases of well-differentiated thyroid cancer, or WDTC, that doctors had treated either with surgery or with surgery followed by radioactive iodine. The team looked at cases in a U.S. cancer database known as Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results, or SEER.
Can radioactive iodine be used for thyroid cancer?
Using radioactive iodine as a follow-up treatment to thyroid cancer surgery increases the risk of a patient developing acute myeloid leukemia and having a poorer outcome, a study reports. Researchers presented the findings at the Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Madrid, Sept. 8-12. The presentation was titled “ Risk of ...
How long does radioactive iodine affect sperm count?
Important to men is the fact that radioactive iodine can cause short-term reductions in sperm count for up to 2 years after your procedure (8). This may or may not be important to you based on your age, your gender, and whether or not fertility is something you are interested in but, again, it's worth knowing about.
How to avoid weight gain after RAI?
Your best bet to AVOID weight gain after RAI is to go into your procedure with a normal weight and to maintain a healthy lifestyle both before and after. Just realize that you will always be in a 'sensitive' category and you will be more likely to gain weight compared to people with their thyroid intact. #3.
How long can you live after iodine treatment?
You can expect to live a fairly normal life after radioactive iodine treatment but your life will probably not be exactly as it was before your procedure. For most people, this means that you can expect to live at 80-90% of your 'normal'.
How long does it take for a RAI to fade?
The good news is that this radioactivity does fade over a short period of time (usually 5 to 7 days) but the bad news is that you need to stay under certain precautions during this time.
What happens if you destroy your thyroid gland?
And, if you destroy your thyroid gland, it turns out that that may have consequences on your metabolism. Anectodally, you've probably already heard stories about people gaining weight after their procedure.
Can you gain weight after radioactive iodine treatment?
You may gain weight. This is probably not what you want to hear, especially if this is a procedure that is necessary for your health, but it's still important to know about it. You may gain weight after you undergo radioactive iodine treatment.
Can you survive after RAI?
You can obviously survive after RAI (otherwise they wouldn't do the procedure) but I want to teach you how to thrive afterward. And to key to getting there is to understand what happens to your body after this procedure and how it influences your thyroid function.
What is RAI used for?
RAI, which has been used widely in the United States for the treatment of hyperthyroidism since the 1940s, is one of three commonly used treatments for hyperthyroidism. The other two are anti-thyroid drugs, which have been rising in popularity, and surgical treatment, which is used least often.
How many people have hyperthyroidism?
According to the researchers, in the United States, about 1.2% of the population has hyperthyroidism, and women are much more likely to develop the condition than men. Therefore, the findings for breast cancer mortality are particularly relevant for the large population of women treated for hyperthyroidism, Dr. Kitahara said.
What is the National Cancer Institute?
About the National Cancer Institute (NCI): NCI leads the National Cancer Program and NIH’s efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers.
When was the thyrotoxicosis follow up study?
The new findings are from a long-term follow-up study of a large cohort of people with hyperthyroidism (mainly Graves’ disease) who were treated with radiation between 1946 and 1964 , the Cooperative Thyrotoxicosis Therapy Follow-up Study.
What is the NIH?
NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit nih.gov .
Which organ absorbs radiation?
Most of the radiation is absorbed by the thyroid gland, but other organs like the breast and stomach are also exposed during treatment. The researchers observed positive dose–response relationships between the dose absorbed by an organ and mortality from cancer at that site.
How to avoid radiation?
Here are some ways to minimize radiation risks to other people (and pets) after you have had RAI treatment: 1 Stay at least six feet away from other people, including members of the public, family members, and co-workers, for three to 11 days. This means avoiding public transportation, hotels, carpools, and in some cases, your workplace. 2 Sleep apart from adults by at least six feet (a separate bedroom is recommended) and avoid sexual activity. 3 Avoid sleeping in the same bed with a pregnant woman, infant, or child for a period of six to 23 days. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, infants and children should ideally stay outside the home for the recommended period. 1 4 To protect family pets, do not sleep with them for up to 21 days.
How to minimize radiation risks?
Keep Your Distance. Here are some ways to minimize radiation risks to other people (and pets) after you have had RAI treatment: Stay at least six feet away from other people, including members of the public, family members, and co-workers, for three to 11 days. This means avoiding public transportation, hotels, carpools, and in some cases, ...
Can you hospitalize after a RAI?
It is not common in the United States to hospitalize patients after RAI, but if you are receiving a particularly high dosage of iodine 131 and have no way to protect children or babies, it may be an option. A Low-Iodine Diet Can Make Radioactive Iodine Treatment More Effective.
Does iodine affect thyroid?
Because the radioactive iodine used (known as iodine 131) may expose those around you to the effects of radiation (and theoretically negatively affect their thyroid glands), you will be given guidelines on how to prevent such exposure. Laura Porter / Verywell.
