A doctor recently told this story about a cancer patient who was cured
by irradiation with cobalt-60.
“A 75-year-old white male patient, who had been hoarse for one month,
was treated unsuccessfully with the usual medications given for a bad
cold. Finally, examination of his larynx revealed an ulcerated swelling
on the right vocal cord. A biopsy (microscopic examination of a tissue
sample) was made, and it was found the swelling was a squamous-cell
cancer.
“Daily radiation treatment using a cobalt-60 device was started and
continued for 31 days. This was in September 1959. The cobalt-60 unit is
one that can be operated by remote control. It positions radioactive
cobalt over a collimator, which determines the size of the radiation
beam reaching the patient. The machine may be made to rotate around the
patient or can be used at any desired angle or position.
[Illustration: Showing:]
⁶⁰Co source
Tungsten alloy shielding
Shutter
Counterweight and personnel shield
“When the treatment series was in progress, the patient’s voice was
temporarily made worse, but it returned to normal within two months
after the treatment ended. The radiation destroyed the cancerous growth,
and frequent examinations over 6 years since have failed to reveal any
regrowth.
“The treatment spared the patient’s vocal cords, and his voice, airway,
and food passage were preserved.”
This dramatic tale with a happy ending is a good one with which to start
a discussion of how doctors use radioisotopes for treatment of disease.