Myeloproliferative Disorders
Harold R. Schumacher, William A. Rock, Sanford A. Stass in Handbook of Hematologic Pathology, 2019
The primary goals of PV treatment are to alleviate symptoms, to reduce the risk of vascular (thrombotic/hemorrhagic) events by suppressing marrow cellular production, and to minimize potential consequences of long-term therapy. Treatment modalities include: Phlebotomy of 250–500mL of blood two to three times a week until Hct is between 40% and 45%.Treatment with radioactive phosphorus (32P). Because of the increased risk of AL after 7 to 10 years of 32P therapy, this drug is usually restricted to patients over 60 years.Administration of appropriate myelosuppressive drugs. These include hydroxyurea, interferons, and alkylating agents. The alkylating agents (such as chlorambucil) are prescribed infrequently now because of the unacceptably high risk of transformation to AL after 5 to 7 years of treatment.
Radiation Therapy and Radiation Safety in Medicine
Suzanne Amador Kane, Boris A. Gelman in Introduction to Physics in Modern Medicine, 2020
Examples of radionuclides used in unsealed source therapy are iodine-131, with a half-life of 8.0 days and a beta range of 3 mm, and phosphorus-32, with a half-life of 14.3 days and a beta range of 10 mm. Because iodine is effectively partitioned into the thyroid gland and cleared from the rest of the body, iodine-131 administered orally is used for the treatment of thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland). In the case of iodine-131, its emission of gamma rays allows gamma camera or SPECT imaging to be used to follow the course of treatment. Phosphorus-32 has a pronounced effect on blood-forming tissues, so it can be used in the treatment of leukemia and other blood disorders.
The Poisoned Chalice
Alan Perkins in Life and Death Rays, 2021
Phosphorous is an element that is essential for life. When it combined with oxygen it makes phosphates which hold the cellular DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) together, make bones strong and is fundamental for the chemical processes within the cells of the body. Phosphorous was discovered by the German chemist Henning Brant around 1670 when he was boiling his own urine to try and make gold! When taken in large amounts phosphorous can kill. Many workers in the early match making factories inhaled large amounts of phosphorous, which resulted in the disintegration of the bones and teeth, a condition called ‘phossy jaw’. Radioactive phosphorus-32 is a high-energy beta emitter with a physical half-life of 14.3 days. It is routinely used in biomedical science laboratories for radiolabelling molecular probes and for DNA sequencing. The high-energy beta particles emitted from phosphorous-32 can pose an external risk if the material is splashed on the skin or gets in the eye. Following ingestion or inhalation, phosphorus is taken up into the bloodstream and readily incorporated into bone tissue and can be incorporated into nucleic acids and other essential cellular components. Between 1994 and 1996 a young male graduate student working in the Institute of Plant Pathology at the University of Taiwan was poisoned on about 30 occasions with phosphorus-32 and other materials stolen from the molecular biology laboratories at the university. The radioactive element was placed in the victim’s drinking cup and eating utensils by a fellow student. From late 1994 the victim suffered diarrhoea and abdominal pain which was accompanied by poor appetite and weight loss. He later lost most of his moustache. He was informed of the acts by the perpetrator in early 1996 and suffered continuing health effects up to 1999. Estimations of the radiation dose the victim received were made by the assay of radioactivity of his urine. The health effects were considered to be significant and he was kept under continuing health surveillance.
Synovitis in hemophilia: preventing, detecting, and treating joint bleeds
Published in Expert Review of Hematology, 2023
RS is of particular usefulness in individuals with inhibitors. Controlling bleeds is difficult and surgical treatment of hemophilic arthropathy is challenging because of less dependable hemostasis during surgery. The radionuclide utilized in the U.S.A and other countries is phosphorus-32 (P32) with satisfactory results [70,71]. Two cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) employing P32 RS in two children with hemophilia have been published in the U.S.A [72,73]. In 2002, Manco-Johnson et al reported on ALL in a 9-year-old-boy. It was considered unrelated to the two P32 injections that the child received 3 and 10 months prior to the leukemia diagnosis [72]. In 2004, Dunn et al reported on a 14-year-old who had P32 injections into the left elbow and right ankle. Ten months later, the child was diagnosed with ALL [73]. In 2002, a standard protocol for P32 RS was published by Dunn et al. An informed consent for the RS technique was advised [74].
Prostate-specific membrane antigen-directed imaging and radioguided surgery with single-photon emission computed tomography: state of the art and future outlook
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
Luca Filippi, Barbara Palumbo, Viviana Frantellizzi, Susanna Nuvoli, Giuseppe De Vincentis, Angela Spanu, Orazio Schillaci
The first experiences on the application of handheld devices for radioactivity detection date back to the ‘40s, when a Geiger-Muller probe was employed to reveal phosphorus-32 (32P) sodium phosphate uptake in skin disorders [27]. To date, several probes are available to detect both gamma (gamma-probes) and beta (beta-probes) emitters. The three main features characterizing a handheld probe are 1) energy resolution, that is the capacity to discriminate between different energies and results of critical importance to distinguish between primary and scattered photons; 2) sensitivity, that is the detected count-rate per unit activity; 3) spatial resolution, that is the ability to locate the emitting source and to separate two neighboring emitting sources from each other.
The current and future applications of in situ hybridization technologies in anatomical pathology
Published in Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2022
Hoi Yi Leung, Martin Ho Yin Yeung, Wai Tung Leung, King Hin Wong, Wai Yan Tang, William Chi Shing Cho, Heong Ting Wong, Hin Fung Tsang, Yin Kwan Evelyn Wong, Xiao Meng Pei, Hennie Yuk Lin Cheng, Amanda Kit Ching Chan, Sze Chuen Cesar Wong
Labeled probes have reporter molecules that emit signals that can be detected. The reporter molecules can be radioactive or nonradioactive. Helium-3 (3H), phosphorus-32 (32P) and sulfur-35 (35S) are examples of radioisotopes that release beta particle energy when decay. Signals are visualized by autoradiographic methods. Biotinylated probes and digoxigenin-labeled probes are examples of nonradioactive probes that can conjugate directly to enzymes or chemically modify them to become detectable. Fluorescence may be used for detection and visualization of the hybridization [17]. Nowadays, the latter is a more preferred option for labeled probes.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Beta Decay
- Biochemistry
- DNA
- Gamma Ray
- Metabolic Pathway
- Molecular Biology
- Organic Compound
- Radionuclide
- Phosphorus
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