Medical Isotopes Used In Treatment of Disease

By: Rhoda Lam

Michelle Liu

Iodine-125 Half-Life: 59.4 days

Properties: heavy, grayish-black, metallic-looking material

Used in the treatment of prostate cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer

A low energy gamma emitter; maximum energies of 35 keV

The BRACHYSOURCE® iodine-125 implant

Iodine-131Half-life : 8.02 days

Properties: Nonmetallic, purplish-black crystalline solid

Used in brachytherapy or short-range therapy to treat thyroid cancer

Helps treat non-malignant thyroid disorders

Used due to its short half-life and useful beta emission

Strontium-89 & Samarium-153Strontium-89 Half-life: 50 days

Stontium-89 Properties: Silvery metal that rapidly turns yellowish in air

Samarium-153 Half-life: 46.3 hours (1.93days)

Samarium-153 Properties: Reactive, yellowish metal

Used to provide pain relief for metastatic bone disease(cancers that have spread from the original tumor to the bone)

Samarium-153 is used due to its short half-life

Phosphorus-32Half-life: 14.29 days

Properties: Reactive

-White phosphorus: waxy, transparent solid

-Red phosphorus: red powder

-Black phosphorus: looks like graphite powder

Used to control a disease called 'Polycythemia vera', where an excess of red blood cells are produced by the bone marrow.

Used due to its short half-life

Red phosphorus powder

Palladium-103 Half-Life: 16.99 days

Used to manufacture brachytherapy permanent implant seeds

The seeds are primarily used for the treatment of early stage prostate cancer

Used due to its short half-life and low energy emission

Bibliographyhttp://www.nordion.com/our_products/medical_isotopes_iodine125.asp

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/radionuclides/technetium.html

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/radionuclides/iodine.html

http://216.55.99.51/clinical/palliative/strontium.htmlhttp://www.sciencegateway.org/isotope/phosp32.html

http://www.cancer.gov/Common/PopUps/popDefinition.aspx?id=CDR000045874&version=Patient&language=English

http://iodine-125.com/

http://bardmedical.com/Iodine125

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:OBEppGQn3E4J:www.nordion.com/documents/products/Pd-103_Can.pdf+&hl=zh-CN&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESinWz5oLD0hbfWSK5BEJFX7uU-u3QaZdRFtmEccCBXRGjz7IhmeHvUHIU_a3jWv_1O8c-A6t7WDcxR1oluExqJld3Scwknc0cEv_4EcKcXjFZomyjPdz2Vjv3qs1EzTI8oo5i0a&sig=AHIEtbS7qibFT4KMOyUPKI1L06e3oUKVtw

http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/P-T/Samarium.html