Types of Radiation Therapy for Thyroid Cancer

Radioactive Iodine Therapy: This treatment begins with a dose of a radioactive iodine that is used to highlight the area of disease. This allows the physicians in Nuclear Medicine to take pictures using a special scanner called a gamma camera and determine if radioactive iodine treatment is needed and what the treatment dosage should be if therapy is recommended. Both the iodine used for imaging and the iodine used for treatment are given orally. This is usually a pill, but may be offered as a liquid in some instances.

External beam radiation: We can also deliver radiation therapy through a machine outside of the body. This is not commonly used for thyroid cancer; however, it may be used for some of the more aggressive cases. External beam radiation therapy does not cause pain, so you won’t feel anything during your treatments, but there can be side effects (see below). It does not make you radioactive. You can safely be around other people, including children.