What is brachytherapy?
Brachytherapy is a minimally invasive, internal radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Through this treatment, low-dose radioactive seeds are permanently implanted in the prostate gland. An average of 60 to 120 seeds, smaller than a grain of rice, are placed in a pattern designed by your physician that is specific to your prostate gland. The seeds work to destroy the cancer from the inside.
Benefits of Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy has several advantages compared to surgery, including:
- Avoiding a major surgery
- Shorter recovery time
- No catheterization required in most patients
- Minimal bleeding
- Less erectile dysfunction
- Precise placement of the seeds offers a more tailored treatment
Another benefit of brachytherapy is that it typically provides a much shorter course of treatment than external beam radiation. With this procedure, there is minimal exposure to the tissue surrounding the prostate. The main advantage of brachytherapy is that it delivers radiation in a localized area, minimizing the radiation dose to surrounding tissues.