Re: Iodine capsules and radiophobia

[Richard Smart <R.Smart@unsw.edu.au>]

At 08:30 AM 23.6.97 -0500, Andy Hancock  wrote:

>
>Most of the patients who receive radioiodine therapy are elderly, 
>therefore there is limited useful follow-up data on cancer incidence 
>within this patient group.

My experience at St. George Hospital is that most patients with thyroid
carcinoma are YOUNG not old. I have reviewed the age distribution of our
patients for the 4 year period 1992-1995. The peak of the distribution was
for the 40 year olds. We treated more 20 and 30 year olds than we did
patients in their 50s and 60s.

And most of these patients are female with young children at home, and they
often ask about precautions for future pregnancies.

So the cancer risk in these patients is a real risk. This has been addressed
in the large studies from Sweden, namely: Hall et al Br. J. Cancer
1991,65:159-163 "Cancer risks in thyroid cancer patients"

In contrast to the carcinoma patients, the patients we treated for
thyrotoxicosis were older, with a mean age of 50-60.

Regards

Richard

Richard Smart PhD
Department of Nuclear Medicine
St. George Hospital
Kogarah, NSW 2217
Australia
Tel:61 2 9350 3112
Fax:61 2 9350 3991
Email:R.Smart@unsw.edu.au