Analysis of the necessary radioprotection procedures in manufacture of iodine-125 sources used in brachytherapy: A preliminary study

The estimates for the year 2009 predict that 466,730 new cancer cases would occur in Brazil. Prostate cancer is the second most incident in our country, with almost 50,000 new cases in 2009. Brachytherapy, a type of radiotherapy, with iodine-125 sources is an important form of treatment for this kind of cancer. The “Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares” (Institute for Nuclear and Energy Research – IPEN) created a project to produce a national prototype of these sources and develop a facility for local production. Manufacturing seeds locally will diminish the overall treatment cost making such treatment available to a larger number of patients. While the laboratory is under development, the IPEN imports and distributes seeds. This work aims to present and evaluate the radiological protection procedures applied to imported sources in order to assist in the setup of the new laboratory. Although iodine-125 presents low energy photons, around 29 keV, local and personal dosimeters are used during the separation and distribution process of seeds as described in CNEN NN 3.01 standard “Diretrizes Básicas de Proteção Radiológica” (Radiological Protection Basic Guidelines). All testing has demonstrated that there is no area contamination and very low exposure, suggesting that the application of the standards outlined in CNEN NN 3.01 has been effective. As a result of this work, a new dosimeter should be installed and evaluated in a future study.