Radiation Absorbed Dose Measurement after I-131 Metaiodobenzylguanidine Treatment in a patient with Pheochromycytoma

Yang, Weon Il; Kim, Byeung Il; Lee, Jae Sung; Lee, Jeong Rim; Choi, Chang Woon; Lim, Sang Moo; Hong, Sung Woon

Abstract

PURPOSE: The measurement of radiation absorbed dose is useful to predict the response after I-131 labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) therapy and determine therapy dose in patients with unresectable or malignant pheochromocytoma. We estimated the absorbed dose in tumor tissue after high dose I-131 MIBG in a patient with pheochromocytoma using a gamma camera and Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) formula.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A 64-year old female patient with pheochromocytoma who had multiple metastases of mediastinum, right kidney and periaortic lymph nodes, received 74 GBq (200 mCi) of I-131 MIBG. We obtained anterior and posterior images at 0.5, 16, 24, 64 and 145 hours after treatment. Two standard sources of 37 and 74 MBq of I-131 were imaged simultaneously. Cummulated I-131 MIBG uptake in tumor tissue was calculated after the correction of background activity, attenuation, system sensitivity and count loss at a high count rate.
RESULTS
The calculated absorbed radiation dose was 32-63 Gy/ 74 GBq, which was lower than the known dose for tumor remission (150-200 Gy). Follow-up studies at 1 month showed minimally reduced tumor size on computed tomography, and mildly reduced I-131 MIBG uptake.
CONCLUSION
We estimated radiation absorbed dose after therapeutic I-131 MIBG using a gamma camera and MIRD formula, which can be peformed in a clinical nuclear medicine laboratory. Our
RESULTS
suggest that the measurement of radiation absorbed dose in I-131 MIBG therapy is feasible as a routine clinical practice that can guide further treatment plan. The accuracy of dose measurement and correlation with clinical outcome should be evaluated further.