Radiation Safety Measures and Precautions for Prostate Cancer

Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, FACP, FASCO, professor of medicine and Urology at Weill Cornell Medicine, and an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Medical Center, highlights a key difference between oral androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor drugs and therapeutic radionuclides for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Tagawa explains that therapeutic radionuclides like lutetium-177 emit gamma radiation, something that can travel and expose people nearby. Especially after administration, patients emit high levels of radiation which can expose caregivers and healthcare workers if not managed properly.

Overall, while short-term exposure is likely safe, Tagawa explains that prolonged exposure during this initial period requires extra caution compared with handling other types of treatments for patients with prostate cancer.

Transcription:

0:09 | Another aspect, just to kind of mention it, that is different from our other drugs is well, what about besides the patient, what could happen? Our oral AR inhibitors, we say, do not have family members touch them ahead of them, particularly females [as] we could harm other people, for instance, potentially we could. For some versions of therapeutic radionuclides, there is gamma emission, so that is a type of radiation that we can see, but it can travel, it can travel feet.

0:47 | Especially right around the time of administration, particularly therapeutic doses of lutetium 177 for a couple of days, there is a reasonable amount of emitting from the patient, so the caregivers at home, the physician staff, etc, can be exposed to that high level. [It is] not a big deal if it is for a short period of time, but for a prolonged period of time, particularly for the first couple of days, it is a little bit different than with other drugs.