Cancer patients who opt to have radioactive seed implants must strictly follow the prescribed safety measures, or they could endanger other family members, especially children and pregnant women, the Public Health Ministry has warned.
Deputy Public Health Minister Somsak Chunharas led health officials in delivering the caution on Tuesday, saying advertisements for overseas radioactive seed implants were attracting many Thai patients.
Dr Somsak said Thai cancer patients were interested in this particular treatment, but some of them were unaware that permanent seed implants would continuously give off radiation, and that people close to them, including family members, would be exposed to it.
The deputy health minister warned that pregnant women and children were especially vulnerable to exposure. The implant would continue to emit radiation from the remains and ashes after the death of the patients.
He said doctors and others should be informed of such implants before they handle patients' remains.
Dr Somsak quoted the Thai Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology as reporting that since January last year, 35 Thai cancer patients had received radioactive seed implants overseas. However, he said, he did not know the actual number of patients with the implants.
"I am asking for cooperation. Anyone with permanent implants must follow doctors' instructions strictly. In the first month, they must stay away from others and refrain from being close to pregnant women and children for a long period," Dr Somsak said.
Dr Suphan Srithamma, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said permanent implants containing the radioactive isotope iodine-125 were used to treat prostate cancer patients. The seed was contained in a titanium capsule that was one millimetre wide and five millimetres long.
Twenty-two local hospitals provided the treatment, with temporary seed implants. In the extreme, a large exposure to radiation could cause nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, hair loss, diarrhea, haemorrhaging, damage to the central nervous system and unconsciousness, Dr Suphan said.