Survival Seeds ...

Prostate seeds as a choice for Prostate Cancer Treatment

Prostate cancer is exceedingly common and its two most effective treatments (prostatectomy and the prostate seed implant) can both be done very well or extremely poorly. This knol is meant to provide additional context to the therapeutic choice both for and against brachytherapy.

From the Florida Radiation Oncology Group, Tampa Bay - St. Petersberg - Sarasota region, Florida; Tampa Bay Cancer Centers in Tampa, Brandon, Sun City and Zephyrhills (813) 870-0162.
Introduction: Prostate seeds are a time tested minimally invasive surgical option for the treatment of prostate cancer that is comparable in effectiveness to good open and robotic surgical management. Efficacy: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and many treatments have been developed as options for treatment. The big three options are surgery (robot and open are of equal efficacy if done by an expert), external beam radiation and seed-implant therapy. All have similar survival rates in low-risk patients though traditionally surgery is still being held out as the most efficacious for young patients. The Procedure: Over the last 25 years modern seed implants have become one of the most established and well tested treatments for prostate cancer similar to the traditional gold standard of surgery. Seed implants involve placement of permanent rice-sized radioactive isotopes encased in a micro-welded titanium shell. The seed implant requires the active participation of three licensed professionals: the urologist, the radiation oncologist and the medical physicist which is in contrast to the other two options which require either just a surgeon or a radiation oncologist and medical physicist. The seeds are placed under anesthesia through the skin between the penis and the anus through needles which have a similar bore size as those used to draw blood. The prostate is visualized throughout the implant using an ultrasound probe and an addition fluoroscopy device to assure perfect placement. Patients are able to complete the procedure and return home the same night with few restrictions other than to keep children off of their lap for 3 months and to stay arms-length away from pregnant woman for the same duration. See this link for more details about the procedure. http://knol.google.com/k/jamie-cesaretti/prostate-seed-implants/21c6brk1ikoky/2# Early Adopters:

Brachytherapy is the oldest form of radiation having been used to treat tumors within a few months of its discovery by Professor Roentgen in 1885. The American inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1903 described inserting the radioactive element radium into a human tumor. The father of the prostatectomy, Hugh Hampton Young at Johns Hopkins Medical School, used a bar of highly refined radium obtained from a grateful western mining magnate to treat hundreds of men in the early 20th century with prostate cancer. In fact he was so taken with the initial results that he performed many more brachytherapy procedures than he did surgical procedures.