Use of Lithium as an Adjunct to Radioiodine Therapy of Thyroid Carcinoma
- 1 January 1976
- journal article
- case report
- Published by The Endocrine Society in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
- Vol. 42 (1) , 105-111
- https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-42-1-105
Abstract
The effect of lithium on iodine kinetics after oral 131I-iodide was studied in an athyreotic patient with follicular thyroid carcinoma. Lithium decreased the disappearance rate of 131I from the whole body and from a tumor mass in the patient’s thigh from control values of 0.126/day and 0.122/day to 0.090/day and 0.049/day, respectively, while having only a minimal effect on the rate of 131I disappearance from blood. The increased tumor 131I retention would be expected to increase the therapeutic:toxic ratio of 131I. However, a subsequent therapeutic dose of 131I-iodide given with lithium was accompanied by an unanticipated increase in blood 131I and, therefore, in whole body radiation, resulting in significant bone marrow depression. Although lithium may be a useful adjunct in 131I therapy of functional thyroid carcinoma, it must be used cautiously in future studies.Keywords
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