University of Missouri Research Reactor Now Supplying Iodine-131 for Thyroid Treatment

Medical radioisotopes are widely used in cancer treatment, but their production has been hampered to the point that obtaining them has become a challenge. The lack of Technetium-99m is probably the most widely known, but there’s also a shortage of Iodine-131 (I-131), a radioisotope commonly used for diagnosing and treating thyroid conditions because the thyroid absorbs iodine naturally. Things are now looking up at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), a 10-megawatt reactor, has just produced the first commercial batch of I-131.  International Isotopes, Inc. is the buyer and distributor. This is the first supplier of I-131 to be based in the United States since the 1980s, and so should help to guarantee the availability of the radioisotope for many years. It was first approved by the FDA in 1951, but because of a half-life lasting just over a week, the material requires constant and consistent production.