RESEARCH ARTICLE


Sentinel Node Navigation Surgery with 99mTc-tin Colloid in Breast Cancer: Radiation Safety Considerations



Kazutaka Ejiri1, Kazuyuki Minami1, Hiroshi Toyama2, *, Gen Kudo2, Hidekazu Hattori2, Naomi Kobayashi3, Masaki Kato4, Masanobu Ishiguro4, Hirofumi Fujii5, Makoto Kuroda6, Toshiaki Utsumi3, Katsumi Iwase7, Kazuhiro Katada2
1 Faculty of Radiological Technology, Fujita Health University School of Health Sciences, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
2 Department of Radiology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
3 Department of Breast Surgery, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
4 Section of Radiology, Fujita Health University Hospital, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
5 Research Center for Innovative Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, 6-5-1 Kashiwanohara, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
6 Department of Surgical Pathology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
7 Department of Endocrine Surgery, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2012
Volume: 6
First Page: 89
Last Page: 96
Publisher Id: TOMIJ-6-89
DOI: 10.2174/1874347101206010089

Article History:

Received Date: 17/01/2012
Revision Received Date: 22/04/2012
Acceptance Date: 24/04/2012
Electronic publication date: 1/6/2012
Collection year: 2012

© 2012 Ejiri et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Radiology, Fujita Health University 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan; Tel: +81-562-93-9259; Fax: +81-5622-95-2253; E-mail: htoyama@fujita-hu.ac.jp


Abstract

Purpose:

The incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in 2011 has again raised concerns with the public regarding radiation exposure, especially so in medical workers and patients undergoing treatment involving the use of radiation. Radioisotopes are currently used during sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) in operating rooms without radiation monitoring. To re-evaluate the safety issues, the potential effective dose (Epoten) from 99mTc-tin (-Sn) colloid in breast cancer surgery was estimated and personal dose equivalents, Hp(10) and Hp(0.07), were measured during SNNS.

Materials and methods:

Seventeen breast cancer patients were enrolled. One day before SNNS, 99mTc-Sn colloid was injected around the tumor and radiation exposure rates were measured using survey meters. Personal dose equivalents for the surgical workers were measured. Hp(10) and Hp(0.07) for the body and Hp(0.07) for the hands were recorded using semiconductor detectors and ring-type glass dosimeters.

Results:

The maximum Epoten was 29 μSv per 74 MBq injection. The maximum Hp(10) for the primary and assisting surgeons, nurse, and anesthetist was 3.7, 1.4, 0.3 and 0.6 μSv per SNNS, respectively. The maximum Hp(0.07) for the hands was 100 μSv. Maximum radiocontamination 20 times higher than background (0.05 μSv/h) was detected in bloody gauze.

Conclusion:

The workers' radiation dose exposure from SNNS was not high, although radiation management such as a temporary cooling off period may be required.

Keywords: Sentinel node, breast cancer, radiation exposure, radioactive contamination, 99mTc-tin colloid.