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09 February 2012

Answer to Question #7785 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Nuclear Medicine Patient Issues — Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

A family member, a 36-year-old female, had thyroid surgery followed by iodine-131 therapy three years ago. Recently she had a whole-body PET (positron-emission tomography) scan, which came out clear. She wants to have a baseline mammogram done, and she would like to know how long she should wait after her PET. She is concerned with the added radiation dose/risk.

She needs to wait until the next day, when all the fluorine-18 has decayed away. But besides that, there is no reason to wait to have a mammogram. The radiation doses from mammograms are small and unimportant as far as risk.

Diagnostic exams should not be a concern following iodine-131 therapy. It is important to have screening scans for cancer and any other diagnostic exams that her physician feels are needed for her ongoing post-therapy care.

Carol S. Marcus, PhD, MD
Marcia Hartman

Answer posted on 29 August 2008. The information and material posted on this website is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Website. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.