SPONTANEOUS AND EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED UPTAKE OF RADIOACTIVE IODINE IN METASTASES FROM THYROID CARCINOMA: A PRELIMINARY REPORT*†

Abstract

METASTATIC carcinoma of the thyroid can be successfully treated with radioiodine when the lesions concentrate this isotope (1). The usefulness of this method depends upon the percentage of cases in which such concentration can be demonstrated. A technique of inducing uptake of radioiodine in metastases that previously showed none would increase the usefulness of the method. Clinically we have been successful in inducing such uptake in several cases with subsequent amelioration of the disease. In a recent publication by Marinelli et at. (2), it is reported that “approximately 15 per cent of thyroid cancers may be expected to accumulate radioactive iodine in some degree.” This conclusion is based on findings in a selected group of 19 cases modified by an estimation of relative frequency of various types of thyroid carcinoma. The present paper is a report on 14 unselected cases of metastatic thyroid carcinoma studied at Montefiore Hospital up to June 1947.