Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy with 131 I is the standard of care for treatment in many patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. Because 131 I is typically administered as a pill, and much of its radioactivity is excreted via the urine, there can be challenges in patients who cannot swallow pills, absorb iodine via the gastrointestinal tract, or eliminate RAI via the urine (i.e., dialysis patients and patients with renal failure). In this article, we present 3 cases in which the standard 131 I treatment protocol for thyroid cancer could not be used because of these challenges, and we discuss the strategies used to overcome them. Provider collaboration and treatment customization are critical in overcoming patient-specific challenges.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.