Evaluation of ablation of thyroid remnants with 1850 MBq iodine-131 in 67 patients with thyroid cancer

BACKGROUND: Radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) is used to destroy residual normal thyroid tissue after total thyroidectomy in differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients. As 1850-MBq RRA is routinely performed at our facility, we evaluated the outcomes. METHODS: Sixty-seven DTC patients without macroscopic residual lesions after total thyroidectomy were evaluated. Thyroglobulin (Tg) was measured 2-3 months before RRA with thyroxin administration (pretreatment); just beibre ablation after a 3-week iodine intake restriction with thyroxin withdrawal (THW) (N.-16) or recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH) stimulation (N.=51); and 3 months after RRA. after a 2-week iodine intake restriction and 3-week THW (N.=57) or rhTSH stimulation (N.=10). All patients received I-131 (1850 MBq) treatment followed by I-131 scintigraphy about 8 days later (8.18 +/- 0.91) and I-131 scintigraphy (185 MBq) after the dosage 24 hours later 3months after RRA. Initial RRA goal was defined as negatively visible uptake in I-131 thyroid bed (VUT) and a Tg level of <2 ngimL 3 months after RRA. RESULTS: Rest 60 patients whose TSH levels were below 0.5 mu IU/mL of all 67 patients were evaluated. Negatively VUT on 3 months after RRA was shown in 56 out of 60 patients (93.3%). Initial RRA goal was achieved in 21 (42.0%) of 50 patients, excluding 3 patients whose Tg levels 3 months after RRA were not measured and 7 patients with anti-Tg antibodies. Pretreatment Tg levels (P=0.0003) was significant predictive factor for Initial RRA goal on multivariate logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: RRA with 1850 MBq is effective by visual diagnosis, about 40% of all intermediate or high-risk DTC patients achieved initial RRA goals by both visual and Tg levels diagnosis.