What are the harmful effects of radioactive isotopes?
Radioisotope Therapy Radioisotope therapy is a procedure in which a liquid form of radiation is administered internally through infusion or injection. RIT's ultimate purpose is to treat cancerous cells with minimal damage to the normal surrounding tissue. These therapies are not normally the first approach used to fight a patient's cancer.
Why are isotopes useful in the treatment of cancer?
RADIOISOTOPES IN THE TREATMENT OF CANCER In the treatment of cancer, radiation can be administered to the malignant tissues in several dif ferent ways: for example, needles of radium or cobalt-60 can be implanted directly into the tumor, or (in a rather limited number of cases) a radioisotope in liquid form (e.g. gold-198) can be injected, know
What are the beneficial uses of radioactive isotopes?
Which radioisotope is used for treating cancer? Yttrium-90 is used for treatment of cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and liver cancer, and it is being used more widely, including for arthritis treatment. Lu-177 and Y-90 are becoming the main RNT agents. Iodine-131, samarium-153, and phosphorus-32 are also used for therapy.
What are some medical uses for radioactive isotopes?
Radioactive isotopes in cancer treatment. Radioactive isotopes in cancer treatment. Radioactive isotopes in cancer treatment Strahlentherapie Sonderb. 1953;29:52-60. Author J BECKER. PMID: 13226110 No abstract available. MeSH terms Isotopes / therapeutic use* Neoplasms / therapy* ...
How is radiation used to treat cancer?
However, by far the most important therapeutic technique is teletherapy (or beam therapy) in which the source of radiation remains outside the body and the beam of radiation is directed at the tumor through the overlying tissue. The source of radiation may be an X-ray tube, a "supervoltage" machine such as a betatron or a linear accelerator, or a radioisotope which emits high energy gamma-rays. The two isotopes commonly used for this purpose are cobalt-60 and cesium-137.
What is the most important item of dosimetric data?
One of the most important items of dosimetric data is the isodose chart , a kind of contour map which shows how the dose of radiation varies from point to point under stated conditions. Hundreds of such charts have been measured or computed in advanced radiotherapy institutes, but the task is beyond the capacity of the majority of centers. Obviously there is a need for this kind of material to be collected, systematiz ed, catalogued and redistributed on a world wide scale. The problem was examined in detail by an international panel of experts which met in Vienna in November 1960. Prior to this meeting a standard questionnaire was sent (through the co-operation of several national associations of medical physicists) to a large number of radiotherapy centers in many countries. Not only the answers to the questionnaire, but examples of isodose charts from different centers were brought to the Vienna meeting by the participants. The recommendations of the panel have recently been published by the Agency under the title "Therapeutic Dose Distributions with High Energy Radiation". It was suggested that the Agency should publish atlases of isodose charts under 3 main divisions, viz: single fields, multiple fields and moving beams. The preparation of these publications is now well advanced, material having been collected from all over the world, and they should be available in 1962. Associated with the atlases there is to be an "international Catalogue of Single Field Isodose Charts" and provisional copies of this have already been sent out, for comment and correction, to the contributing radiotherapy centers.
Where was the first cobalt teletherapy unit installed?
The first two cobalt teletherapy units were installed in Canada in 1951, at the Saskatoon Cancer Clinic and the Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario. Ten years later, there are well over 1 000 isotopic teletherapy units in different parts of the world. While, of course, the majority of these units are to be found in the technically advanced countries, some units have already been installed in a number of the less developed countries, and there is considerable scope for further expansion.
What are the problems with teletherapy?
Dosimetry is only one of many problems in teletherapy. There are many other questions of a more general nature, including those of organization, staff (medical, physical and auxiliary), training, the selection of suitable equipment and radiation protection. These were some of the problems considered by an international Study Group on the "Use of Radioisotope Teletherapy Units and Supervoltage Radiation in Radiotherapy" which met in Vienna in August 1959. It was convened jointly by the Agency and the World Health Organization. The report of this group, which was published in 1960, not only reviewed the existing situation but provided a practical guide both for practising radiotherapists and radiation physicists and for those considering the establishment of radiotherapy centers. The recommendations of this group have been widely reported and acted upon. Indeed, much of the subsequent activity of the Agency in the dosimetric field, already detailed in this article, stemmed from suggestions made by the 1959 group. According to present plans, the work of this group is to be followed up and extended, with special reference to the needs of the less developed countries, by a Study Group which is to meet in the autumn of 1962.
Is the IAEA passive?
IAEA has not remained a mere passive observer of these developments. The Agency has been active both in assisting the establishment of new installations and in trying to ensure that the best use is made of existing installations. The Agency has carried out these tasks by collecting and disseminating useful data, by enabling urgent problems relating to teletherapy to be discussed - and followed up - on an international basis, and by providing direct assistance to centers in the less developed countries.