Work with Iodine-125: 8 Years Experience in Brachy-Therapy Sources Production Lab

Prostate cancer represents about 10 % of all cases of cancer in the world. Brachytherapy has been extensively used in the early and intermediate stages of the illness. This radiotherapy method reduces the damage to surrounding healthy tissues by concentrating radiation in the target area. The present study presents some of our challenges of working with radioactive iodine, such as, reaction pH and chemical characteristics. It also introduces a new method for manufacturing iodine-125 sources that is being implemented in a production laboratory. This new facility will provide these sources to Brazil hospitals for a lower cost.