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An 18 Year Study of the Use of Beef Thyrotropin to Increase I¹³¹ Uptake in Metastatic Thyroid Cancer^1,2,

New York

ABSTRACT

Eighty-two courses of treatment with beef thyrotropin have been used in 48 patients to increase the collection of radioactive iodine in metastatic thyroid cancer. The usual regime was 10 units twice daily for 5 days. Highly significant increases in tumor uptake were noted in 5 to 32 studies in which pre and post-TSH data were available. In these 5 instances, uptake more than doubled, but the average increase was 59 per cent for the 32 studies. This response could not be correlated with the dose of thyrotropin over the range employed or the histologic type of the tumor. Whole body retention of the radioactive iodine was 25 per cent higher after TSH, but this change was not statistically significant. Allergic manifestations occurred in 2 of 18 patients receiving more than one course of injections. In no instance did the thyrotropin appear to stimulate tumor growth. Thyrotropin stimulation should be attempted when thyroidectomy and antithyroid agents fail to yield sufficient tumor uptake to permit therapy.

FOOTNOTES

¹ From the Department of Medicine and Division of Clinical Investigation, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.

² Supported in part by grants-in-aid from the American Cancer Society (P-81, T-71), the Damon Runyon Memorial Fund (DRG 377, DRG 442), the Atomic Energy Commission, under contract No. AT (30-1)-910 and the National Cancer Institute, U. S. Public Health Service (C-2052, CY 3809).