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Basic Science Investigations |
1 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Augsburg Clinic, Augsburg, Germany
2 Department of Medical Physics, Augsburg Clinic, Augsburg, Germany
3 Nuclear Medicine Service, University Community Hospital, Tampa, Florida
4 John Wayne Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, California
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: thyroid cancer 131I therapy largest safe dose dosimetry
| INTRODUCTION |
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There has been a significant improvement in dosimetric techniques over the past decades. Earlier dosimetric techniques involved blood and urine measurements. Image- based whole-body dose determinations have remarkably improved the accuracy and reproducibility of dosimetric calculations. The development of MIRD methodology has yielded a new paradigm in dosimetry (4). MIRD dosimetry has been successfully used in 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine therapy and radioimmunotherapy (RIT) (5,6). More sophisticated techniques beyond the macrodosimetry of MIRD have evolved over the years, and new methods such as patient-specific Monte Carlo simulation and dose-point kernel convolution dosimetry have been described (79).
We report the experience with dosimetry-guided RAI therapy in the management of DTC patients. This report is a retrospective analysis of combined BM and tumor dosimetry application in clinical practice and addresses the safety and efficacy of high-dose 131I administration.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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RAI Survey and Dosimetric Data Collection
All patients were placed on a thyroid hormone withdrawal protocol to achieve a target thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level of 30 mU/L. On the first day of dosimetric studies, the patients were intravenously administered 150400 MBq 131I, and whole-body images as well as patient-specific spot views were obtained immediately after injection. Imaging continued at daily intervals up to 45 d. Dosimetry was performed using MIRD methodology.
Activity determinations were done using a region-of-interest (ROI) technique. Individual ROIs were drawn for whole body, organ of interest, and metastatic targets on both anterior and posterior projections. Calculations were based on the geometric mean of anterior and posterior counts. No additional attenuation or scatter correction was applied. Blood activity measurements were performed to validate the ROI technique for whole-body activity determinations. Time-activity curves were then generated and, using regression analysis, effective half-life and residence time calculations were made. MIRDOSE3 software was used to determine the dose estimates to critical organs and metastatic sites. Standard S values were applied for BM and lung dose estimations. For tumor dose estimations, conventional imaging modalities (ultrasound, CT, MRI) were used to measure target mass (volume). Formulas used in dosimetric calculations are given below.
Basic Formulas
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= cumulated activity, A0 = administered activity, S = S value,
= residence time, and f = maximum uptake in source region.
Tumor Dose Formula
When calculating radiation absorbed dose for localized targets (remnant, lymph node metastases, recurrent or metastatic tumor masses), the tumor dose formula is used. S values for tumor dose calculations were approximated from the spheroid models. A spheroid of matching size or weight was used for this purpose.
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BM Dose Formula
When calculating radiation absorbed dose for BM (red marrow), the BM dose formula is used.
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When the target mass did not have a tabulated S value in MIRDOSE3 software, corrected S values were used:
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RAI Treatment Planning
The term "largest safe dose" refers to the 131I administered activity estimated to deliver limiting absorbed doses to BM or lungs. The maximum administered activity was limited with radiation doses of 3 Gy to the BM or 30 Gy to the lungs. Administration of 3 Gy to the red marrow was chosen as an acceptable risk because it corresponds to the lethal dose (LD5/5) of the external radiation therapy, which indicates a 5% risk of severe damage within 5 y to the blood-forming system in the case of the BM. Administration of 30 Gy is the LD5/5 of lungs to develop radiation-induced fibrosis.
A risk-adapted approach is defined as individual determination of the risk-to-benefit ratio in the process of treatment planning. RAI treatment intent was cure when the calculated dose to all known metastases was
100 Gy. When dosimetry results indicated that this dose level in the metastases could not be attained, the patients received reduced-dose RAI therapy with a palliative intent. The patients who were treated previously with RAI, or showed impaired BM function and who had significant comorbidities, also received a reduced dose. RAI treatment was deferred if no curative or palliative outcome could be foreseen.
Treatment doses of 131I were administered intravenously over 1530 min using a lead-shielded perfusor with a secure intravenous access system.
Stem Cell Procurement
BM stimulation with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor followed by stem cell separation was performed in selected cases in collaboration with the Department of Medicine, Division of Transfusion Medicine. Stem cell preparations were stored for possible later use in case of permanent BM failure inflicted by high-dose RAI treatment.
Posttreatment Monitoring
Complete blood counts were monitored twice a week for 6 consecutive weeks. Patients with critical BM suppression (<20 platelets/nL; <1 white blood cell/nL) were admitted to the hospital for indicated treatments.
| RESULTS |
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The dose-limiting organ was BM in 19 of 41 treatments (46%) and lungs in 4 of 41 treatments (9.8%). In the remaining 18 treatments (44%), the therapeutic endpoint of achieving a dose to the metastases of
100 Gy was reached delivering <3-Gy BM or <30-Gy lung limiting doses.
The administered activity delivering a 3-Gy BM dose ranged from 7.4 to 37.9 GBq (2001,040 mCi; mean, 22.1 GBq [597 mCi]). The calculated doses to metastases ranged from 100 to >1,000 Gy.
Outcome of Patients Who Underwent Salvage Treatment
Thirty-two patients underwent at least 1 curative-intent RAI treatment (Table 4). Post-RAI treatment survival in this group ranged from 0.6 to 10.9 y (mean, 4.4 y). Six patients (19%) died of disease, and 4 patients (13%) died of other causes (bronchial asthma, suicide caused by depression, incarcerated hernia, sudden cardiac event) during the follow-up. Twelve patients (38%) showed decreased thyroglobulin (Tg) levels of <1 ng/mL after RAI treatment. Nine of these 12 patients maintained their Tg level at or <1 ng/mL over a mean follow-up of 4.3 y. In 4 patients (13%), Tg levels remained stable and <30 ng/mL over a mean follow-up of 5.6 y. Tg levels before and after therapy are given in Table 4.
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BM Toxicity
All patients (24 curative therapies and 1 palliative therapy) who received 131I doses delivering 3 Gy to the BM developed transient BM depression. BM depression reached its nadir at approximately 35 wk after the RAI treatment and manifested with thrombocytopenia followed by leukopenia. A spontaneous complete recovery was observed within the next 35 wk (Figs. 1 and 2). Four patients (2 of whom received a <3-Gy BM dose but had pretherapeutic impaired BM function) required admission to the hospital; 2 of them received transfusion of platelets and red blood cells for pancytopenia. No permanent BM failure was observed and none of the patients required stem cell treatment for recovery of their BM.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Currently, RAI therapy in DTC is performed by either administering an empiric fixed dose or using dosimetry-guided techniques. However, the clinical merits of dosimetry-guided RAI therapy have been clearly demonstrated in the literature (1214). Because of the technical and logistic difficulties, most centers have adapted the fixed-dose technique using 3.77.4 GBq (100200 mCi) 131I. A dosimetric approach in thyroid cancer treatment was first introduced by Benua et al. (2) in the early 1960s and has been successfully used in the management of DTC patients. The rationale of using the highest possible dose is based on the radiobiologic fact that the radiation treatment efficacy is directly related to the radiation dose delivered. The dose-limiting toxicity of RAI treatment is mainly in the BM. Lungs bearing diffuse metastases and salivary glands may also receive high doses and be at risk for expressing radiation-related effects. Therapeutic dose levels in metastatic targets may be difficult to achieve because of intolerable levels of radiation exposures in critical tissues, including but not limited to BM. On the basis of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center experience, it has been accepted that the activity that delivers 2 Gy to BM with a whole-body retention of <4.44 GBq (<120 mCi) at 48 h does not result in permanent BM suppression; using these guidelines, activities as high as 25.9 GBq (700 mCi) have been given safely (3). The MIRD technique, a more advanced methodology in dosimetry, has been adapted by many centers (15). We have developed a dosimetric methodology based on the MIRD technique (16) and have demonstrated that the BM limiting dose can be safely increased to 3 Gy with no permanent marrow suppression. This allowed us to administer doses as high as 38.5 GBq (1,040 mCi) at 1 time. It has been shown that the chance and length of survival are increased in patients who can be freed of their metastases by RAI treatment (17). Administration of initial high-dose RAI has several therapeutic advantages over multiple or fractionated, limited dose therapies.
There is ample evidence that the initial RAI treatment (the first strike) has the highest therapeutic effect. This observation is mainly attributed to the subsequent oncobiologic changes in the thyroid cancer cells and intratumoral biokinetic alterations resulting in diminished RAI uptake or organification. It is also commonly accepted that repeated RAI treatments in metastatic DTC with lower doses are less effective. This is mainly due to the fact that DTC is a slow-growing tumor and sublethal doses of RAI may allow adequate time for the surviving cell populations to regrow and repair the radiation damage.
Dosimetric calculations assume a homogeneous dose distribution throughout a target lesion, which is often not true in reality. The reported cytolethal doses of RAI for normal and neoplastic thyroid tissue show significant variations. Ablation of a normal thyroid tissue or an autonomous nodule was reported to require 300 Gy (18). It has also been shown in an experimental model that the neoplastic thyroid epithelial cell lines are approximately 13% more sensitive to external beam radiation than their nonneoplastic counterparts (19). One could then deduce that a dose of approximately 250 Gy is required for a tumoricidal effect in a metastatic focus. Conflicting response rates have been reported in the literature with regard to the dose-response relationship. Maxon (20) reported a favorable response in lymph node metastases with an 80-Gy dose, whereas Flower et al. (21) reported an inadequate response with 120 Gy. We observed complete responses with tumor doses ranging from 100 to 150 Gy. We also have observed a skeletal metastatic focus not responding to 480 Gy. These variable responses to treatment are due, in part, to the inhomogeneity in the RAI distribution within the metastatic deposit. Most tumors show various degrees of differentiation within. As such, different parts of a metastatic lesion may differ in their ability to concentrate RAI. Damage on the Na/I-symporter or the iodine organification system of surviving tumor cells by prior RAI treatment is certainly another important factor contributing to the nonhomogeneous distribution of RAI in repeated therapies.
The tumor clusters that are not RAI avid are destroyed by the cross-fire effect. The relative resistance of skeletal metastatic lesions is explained by attenuation of the absorbed dose due to the interference of osseous microstructures. By maximizing the administered dose, one has a better chance of overcoming the anatomic and physiologic obstacles of nonhomogeneous distribution.
The potential impact of the stunning effect on the efficacy of RAI treatment has been a subject of controversy clinically. Furthermore, the stunning effect might also alter the projected dose estimates. Both issues require more experimental and clinical data for a rational discussion. In our patients, no stunning effect could be objectively demonstrated. Additionally, no decrease in thyroid uptake was seen after dosimetry with a 370-MBq test activity (with estimated absorbed doses as high as 50100 Gy to the thyroid remnants).
Stem cell procurement may offer additional safety for patients undergoing high-dose (salvage) therapy with RAI. Although none of the patients in our series required stem cell treatment after RAI, such supportive backup might be appropriate for more aggressive salvage therapies.
The risk of leukemia from high-dose RAI treatment has also been a subject of controversy. The incidence of leukemia appears to be related to the cumulated administered activity or, more exactly, to the cumulated red BM dose rather than to a single RAI treatment dose (especially if the activity is <18.5 GBq [<500 mCi]). An incidence of acute myelocytic leukemia of 1 or 2 per 100,000 per year has been reported after a mean cumulated activity of 40.7 GBq (1,100 mCi), equaling a 3.2-Gy red BM dose. The mean latency was 42 mo (22). To date, we have not observed a single case of leukemia in our patients. One could even speculate that a longer recovery period for the BM after RAI treatment might promote cell repair mechanisms and lower the incidence of leukemia. More data and longer follow-up are needed to answer these questions more conclusively.
In the early post-RAI treatment follow-up (the first 2 mo), the possibility of severe hematologic complications requires intense cooperation with the hematologist and the primary care physician. The patients strict compliance to monitoring of the blood count is also crucial.
| CONCLUSION |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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For correspondence or reprints contact: Seza A. Gulec, MD, John Wayne Cancer Institute, 2200 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404.
E-mail: gulecs{at}jwci.org
| REFERENCES |
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