radioactive iodine I-130

Radioactive iodine I-130 is a radioisotope of iodine with a physical half-life of approximately 12.4 hours. It was utilized in the early 1940s, primarily by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders such as Graves' disease and thyroid cancer. Unlike the more common iodine-131, which has an 8-day half-life, I-130 delivers its total radiation dose rapidly, typically within three to four days. The drug works by being selectively concentrated within the thyroid follicles due to the gland's natural avidity for iodine. Once localized, it emits beta particles that cause destructive ionization within the thyroid parenchymal cells, thereby reducing thyroid hormone production in hyperthyroid states or killing malignant cells in thyroid carcinoma. Its clinical use was largely superseded by iodine-131 following the latter's widespread availability from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Other names

iodine-130iodine130iodine 13012-hour isotope of iodine