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Can Brachytherapy Really
Stop Prostate Cancer Cold?

Your Quick Guide to Brachytherapy Treatment

There is a newer treatment for prostate cancer on the block.

It is relatively painless and often has fewer side effects when compared to other prostate treatment methods like open prostatectomy.

Do you know what it is?

It's called brachytherapy. It's a radiation therapy. And one big advantage is this procedure can be performed in just about an hour on an outpatient basis. Sound good so far?

Brachytherapy Defined: An internal radiation therapy where radiation seeds the size of a grain of rice are implanted inside the prostate gland. The idea is to place these seeds near to the site of the tumor so as to kill the cancer cells over time.

How it works: Using advanced ultrasound and computer imaging technology the surgeon only has to make one small incision to inject the radioactive seeds. These gold, iodine or palladium pellets are then precisely placed near the tumor. These release radiation for several months and can be left where they are without any danger to surrounding tissue.

The number of pellets used depends o the size and location of the tumor within the prostate. But up to 200 of these may be used to treat the cancer.

Who best for: It is effective for men with low grade cancer with a Gleason score of 6 or less and PSA level less than 10ng/ml.

Pros
• As was mentioned earlier, the procedure takes only an hour or so and requires only one visit to the hospital. So compared to the repeated sessions required for external radiation hospitalization time is drastically reduced, cutting costs.

• Being able to be located so precisely within the prostate, the radioactive pellets are able to deliver a higher dose of radiation. Meaning the can bring more radiation to bear on the cancer than with external beam.

• Severe bladder and rectal complications are not common.

• Unlike traditional external beam radiation where the radiation can damage the tissues surrounding the prostate, Brachytherapy is less likely to cause much damage to the nearby cells. The pellets (or seeds) are placed near the tumor and the radiation gets directed to the cancerous cells only. That results in a lower chance for two common side affects, urinary problems and erectile dysfunction (impotence).

• This treatment is relatively painless. The doctor makes the small incision and inserts fine needles to precisely position the seeds. Blood loss is minimized and the recovery time is slashed.

Cons
• Even though the radiation is localized, because of the nearness to the urethra, brachytherapy may result in more, and more severe, urinary problems than external beam therapy. Meaning some will need a catheter some for the immediate six months after implantation when the radiation is the most active.

• Also during the first few months of therapy patients are expected to stay at least six feet away from pregnant women and small children due to risks to them.

• For higher grade tumors it is not very effective. Monitoring results is harder as PSA levels may bounce around for a year or so afterward. Meaning it is harder to evaluate the success of the process using PSA results.

• This treatment is not side effect free. Some report pain and swelling of the penis or scrotum, red brown urine or semen and diarrhea.

• In some cases the seeds can migrate to other parts of the body. This migration however does not lead to any negative consequences.

Summing it up: While this is not very effective for high grade tumors or where the cancer has spread to other parts of the body brachytherapy appears to be as effective as traditional radiation treatments for appropriate cases. Being a relatively new form of treatment there is less long term experience to go on however. But for people who suffer from stage T1 cancer and choose radiation as the treatment for this may be a better option. Depending on your specific situation it may well be worth discussing with your physician.

brachytherapy