In summary, then, we may say that radioisotopes play an important role in medicine. For the diagnostician, small harmless quantities of many isotopes serve as tools to aid him in gaining information about normal and abnormal life processes. The usefulness of this information depends upon his ingenuity in devising questions to be answered, apparatus to measure the results, and explanations for the results.

For therapeutic uses, on the other hand, the important thing to remember is that radiation damages many kinds of cells, especially while they are in the process of division (reproduction).[13] Cancer cells are self-reproducing cells, but do so in an uncontrolled manner. Hence cancer cells are particularly vulnerable to radiation. This treatment requires potent sources and correspondingly increases the hazards of use.

In all cases, the use of these potentially hazardous materials belongs under the supervision of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission.[14] Licenses are issued by the Commission after investigation of the training, ability, and facilities possessed by prospective users of dangerous quantities. At regular intervals courses are given to train individuals in the techniques necessary for safe handling, and graduates of these courses are now located in laboratories all over the country.

The future of this field cannot be predicted with certainty. Research in hundreds of laboratories is continuing to add to our knowledge, through new apparatus, new techniques, and new experiments. Necessarily the number of totally new fields is becoming smaller, but most certainly the number of cases using procedures already established is bound to increase. We foresee steady improvement and growth in all uses of radioisotopes in medicine.