Absorbed dose estimates at the cellular level for 131I.

Microdosimetric calculations of 131I have been evaluated for a single cell and for cell clusters. A VsBasic program has been used to calculate stopping power, linear energy transfer, range values and deposited energies per decay for beta particles, Auger and conversion electrons of 131I. The chemical composition of the cell has been taken into account in this model; results were compared with water medium. Besides, total absorbed doses have been calculated for the radionuclides distributed randomly within the cell and clusters. Cross-fire irradiation has been considered for clusters of cells. In this case, absorbed doses per cell within a cluster were found to be significantly higher than absorbed doses per single cell, depending on the cluster size. Results showed that 131I is a promising radionuclide for therapy of tumors from millimeter to centimeter dimensions.