RIYADH — King Faisal Specialist Hospital and the Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh has managed to apply an advanced technology of using Iodine-131 to control a rare type of cancer called neuroblastoma, which can affect newborns and children up to the age of five. The hospital is the only one that uses this technology in the Arab world.

Blood Diseases Consultant and Pediatric Oncologist at KFSHRC Dr. Mahab Ayas said that this technology is composed of a radioactive element that is given to children through veins to help eliminate neuroblastoma when other means fail to treat the disease.

He noted that treatments of this disease include chemical treatments, radioactive and immunity, which are all used before resorting to iodine radioisotope.

Dr. Ayas said that this disease is among rare cancers that affect children under the age of five due to nerve cells that did not develop enough in several organs of the patient’s body.

He noted that the disease is lethal if it is not treated, and if the patient’s response to treatment was low, treatment chances will also be low, adding that applying this technology has contributed to controlling this disease.

He added that this used to be a terminal illness and curing rates were very low during the past four decades. But in the last two decades, through conducting intensified chemical, X-ray and surgical procedures and self-bone marrow transplants, there’s been an increased level in treating the disease despite some cases that do not respond to treatment. — SPA