Departments

Medical Departments

Radionucleide Therapy (Nuclear Department)

Presentation

Generalities

The Jules Bordet Institute is one of the main Belgian reference centres for the treatment and follow-up of thyroid cancer patients. The Nuclear Medicine Department treats about 80 patients each year with high doses of Iodine-131. To that purpose, the hospital has two rooms totally isolated so that patients following a treatment do not contaminate their family circle.

Other medical treatments are available at the Jules Bordet Institute, as for example – among others:
- iodine-131-MIBG therapy (for neuroblastomas and neuroendocrine tumours);
- Yttrium-90-microspheres therapy (intra-hepatically administrated) for the treatment of liver metastases, and
- 153-Samarium-HEDP therapy for the treatment of painful osseous metastases.

We hope that other advances will come in the near future.

The evolution of nuclear medicine – we hope – will allow to use – in the future – specific ligands of each cancer type; these – after having been marked with the appropriate isotope – could be used for a targeted chemotherapy.

 

Isotopes used in therapy : click here

Summary of the use of isotopes in therapy from 1990 to 2005 in Belgium.

 

Particularities :

• Thyroid :
  - Iodine-131 treatments of thyroid cancers
  - Metabolic chamber
   
  
• Sirspheres :
  - SIR-Spheres® treatment of malignant hepatic lesions
  - Y-90 microsphere treatment in the fight against liver malignant tumours

Person in charge : Pr Patrick Flamen