The SNMMI practice guideline for I-131 therapy for thyroid cancer reviews common clinical indications; qualifications and responsibilities of personnel; procedures and specifications of the examination; documentation and reporting; equipment specifications, quality control and improvement, safety, infection control and patient education concerns; and radiation dosimetry.

"In addition, we've also highlighted 14 issues that require further clarification, such as the diagnostic role of alternative imaging agents for thyroid cancer, the frequency and length of long-term follow-up after I-131 therapy, and others. SNMMI will work to address these issues in future versions of the guideline," noted Silberstein.


Each practice guideline, representing a policy statement by SNMMI, undergoes a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, requiring the approval of the Committee on Guidelines and SNMMI Board of Directors. SNMMI emphasizes that the safe and effective use of diagnostic nuclear medicine imaging requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2012, nearly 56,500 cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed and more than 1,700 people will die from the disease. Thyroid cancer is commonly diagnosed at a younger age than most other adult cancers; 80 percent of newly diagnosed thyroid cancer patients are under 65 years of age.

The full guideline "SNM Practice Guideline for Therapy of Thyroid Disease with I-131 3.0" can be found at www.snmmi.org/guidelines. SNMMI has also created a patient pamphlet to complement this guideline, titled "Guidelines for Patients Receiving Radioiodine Treatment," available in the SNMMI Store at www.snmmi.org.

Authors of the guideline "SNM Practice Guideline for Therapy of Thyroid Disease with I-131 3.0" include Edward B. Silberstein, UC Health University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio; Abass Alavi, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Helena R. Balon, Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, Michigan; Susan E.M. Clarke, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom; Chaitanya Divgi, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Michael J. Gelfand, Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; Stanley J. Goldsmith, New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York; Hossein Jadvar, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Carol S. Marcus, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; William H. Martin, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; J. Anthony Parker, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; Henry D. Royal, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, St. Louis, Missouri; Salil D. Sarkar, Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York; Michael Stabin, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; and Alan D. Waxman, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

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