Shinji Ito1, Shingo Iwano2, Katsuhiko Kato3, Shinji Naganawa2. 1. Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan. itoshj@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp. 2. Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan. 3. Department of Radiological and Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-20 Daiko-Minami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, 461-8673, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify prognostic factors associated with a low-iodine diet (LID) and the amount of remnant thyroid tissue in Japanese patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) who received initial I-131 remnant ablation (RAI) using a fixed low dose of I-131 (1110 MBq). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, we enrolled 45 patients. Patients were classified into a self-managed LID group and a strict LID group. We measured the urinary iodine concentration on the day of RAI after patients consumed LID for 2 weeks. Thyroid-stimulating hormone-induced thyroglobulin (Tg) levels and I-131 uptake by the remnant thyroid tissue were also evaluated. A response-evaluation whole-body scan (WBS) was performed 6-8 months after RAI to determine the outcome of the therapy. RESULTS: Post-LID urinary iodine levels of the strict LID group tended to be lower than those of the self-managed LID group. Twenty-five cases (56%) showed absence of uptake, whereas 20 cases (44%) showed residual uptake on the response-evaluation WBS. There were no significant differences between "absence" and "residual" groups in urinary iodine concentrations and Tg levels (p = 0.253 and p = 0.234, respectively). However, significant differences were observed in I-131 uptake by the thyroid bed (p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: For patients following the current Japanese method of a 2-week LID, the urinary iodine concentration was not a predictive factor for the successful outcome of RAI. In contrast, low I-131 uptake by the thyroid bed, revealed by the scintigram after RAI, may serve as a favorable predictive factor.
OBJECTIVE: To identify prognostic factors associated with a low-iodine diet (LID) and the amount of remnant thyroid tissue in Japanese patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) who received initial I-131 remnant ablation (RAI) using a fixed low dose of I-131 (1110 MBq). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, we enrolled 45 patients. Patients were classified into a self-managed LID group and a strict LID group. We measured the urinary iodine concentration on the day of RAI after patients consumed LID for 2 weeks. Thyroid-stimulating hormone-induced thyroglobulin (Tg) levels and I-131 uptake by the remnant thyroid tissue were also evaluated. A response-evaluation whole-body scan (WBS) was performed 6-8 months after RAI to determine the outcome of the therapy. RESULTS: Post-LID urinary iodine levels of the strict LID group tended to be lower than those of the self-managed LID group. Twenty-five cases (56%) showed absence of uptake, whereas 20 cases (44%) showed residual uptake on the response-evaluation WBS. There were no significant differences between "absence" and "residual" groups in urinary iodine concentrations and Tg levels (p = 0.253 and p = 0.234, respectively). However, significant differences were observed in I-131 uptake by the thyroid bed (p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: For patients following the current Japanese method of a 2-week LID, the urinary iodine concentration was not a predictive factor for the successful outcome of RAI. In contrast, low I-131 uptake by the thyroid bed, revealed by the scintigram after RAI, may serve as a favorable predictive factor.