The Everything Guide to Thyroid Disease by Theodore C. Friedman MD PhD

Author:Theodore C. Friedman MD PhD [Friedman, Theodore C.; Scherer, Winnie Yu]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-4405-2948-1
Publisher: F+W Media, Inc.
Published: 2012-10-23T16:00:00+00:00

There are two types of iodine used for thyroid scans, Iodine-123 and -131. Generally, I-123 has a shorter half-life and leaves the body sooner. But I-131 may be more effective because it stays in the tumor longer. Scans may also be done with an element called technetium.

Areas of the thyroid that do not take up iodine are considered cold nodules because they do not show radioactivity. Nodules that have absorbed iodine will turn up as hot nodules. Hot nodules may occur in hyperthyroidism. The problem with the thyroid scan as a diagnostic tool in cancer is that virtually all nodules, both malignant and benign, appear cold, making it impossible to distinguish the benign from the malignant.

But thyroid scans are of use in patients who have had their thyroid glands removed because of papillary or follicular thyroid cancer. Any remaining cancer cells will take up the radioactive iodine and appear on the scan. These cancer cells may need to be destroyed with radioactive iodine. Thyroid scans are not used for medullary forms of thyroid cancer since the cancer cells in that disease will not absorb iodine.

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