Korean J Nucl Med.  2001 Apr;35(2):83-88.

Radiation Adaptive Response Induced by I-131 Therapy in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

• Li MH
• Bom HS

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether radiation adaptive response could be induced by high dose I-131 therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Lymphocytes from 21 patients (7 males, 14 females, mean age 55+/-12 years) were collected before and after administration of 5,550 MBq (150 mCi) I-131. They were exposed to a challenge dose of 1 Gy gamma rays using a Cs-137 cell irradiator. The number of ring-form (R) and dicentric (D) chromosomes was counted under the light microscope, and used to calculate the frequency of chromosomal aberration. Ydr, which was defined as the sum of R and D divided by the total number of counted lymphocytes.
RESULTS
Ydr in patients before I-131 therapy (0.09+/-0.01) was not different from that of controls (0.08+/-0.01). Ydr was significantly increased to 0.13+/-0.02 (p<0.0001) after I-131 therapy. Increase of Ydr after the challenge irradiation of 1 Gy was significantly lower in patients after I-131 therapy than before I-131 therapy (0.17+/-0.03 vs 0.21+/-0.02, p<0.0001). Cycloheximide (CHM), an inhibitor of protein synthesis, abolished this effect. Ydr after CHM (0.20+/-0.01) was significantly higher than Ydr after I-131 therapy (0.17+/-0.03, p<0.0001), but was not different from Ydr before I-131 therapy (0.21+/-0.02).
CONCLUSION
High dose I-131 therapy induces an adaptive response in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer, which is associated with protein synthesis.

Keyword

Radiation adaptive response; I-131 therapy; Lymphocytes; Thyroid cancer

MeSH Terms

Chromosome Aberrations
Cycloheximide
Female
Gamma Rays
Humans
Lymphocytes
Male
Thyroid Gland*
Thyroid Neoplasms*
Cycloheximide