ABSTRACT
Dosimetry of Unsealed Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205
Maggie Flower and Jamal Zweit
Chapter 57
Radionuclide Selection for Unsealed Source Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1211
Maggie Flower, Jamal Zweit, and Mark Atthey
Chapter 58
Radiopharmaceutical Targeting for Unsealed Source Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1219
Maggie Flower and Jamal Zweit
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1225
Radionuclide therapy has been used to treat both benign and malignant diseases for many
years. For example,
I is a standard form of treatment for thyrotoxicosis and thyroid cancer
using the natural property of the thyroid gland to take up iodide, and radionuclide therapy
with
P and
Sr has also been widely practiced to relieve bone pain. More recently, other
short-and long-lived radionuclides have been introduced. This Part deals with the scientific
basis of this unique form of radiotherapy. When compared to external-beam radiotherapy,
therapy with unsealed sources has the potential to deliver larger internal radiation doses more
selectively to target tissues. It also has the advantage of relative ease of use because it is often a
noninvasive procedure with relatively few side-effects and, in many applications, can be
performed on an outpatient basis.
