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Update on Prostate Brachytherapy: Long-term Outcomes and Treatment-related Morbidity
Current Urology Reports, 03/16/2011
Kao J et al. - Seed implantation may play a role in improving outcomes for historically poor-prognosis locally advanced and recurrent prostate cancers.
- Transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate brachytherapy assisted by intraoperative treatment planning is the most advanced form of image-guided radiation delivery.
- Prostate brachytherapy alone for low-risk prostate cancer achieves lower prostate-specific antigen (PSA) nadirs than intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) or protons while maintaining durable biochemical control in about 90% of patients without late failures seen in surgically treated patients.
- As an organ-conserving treatment option, seed implant results in a lower rate of erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence than surgery that has been validated in several recent prospective studies.
- Combined IMRT and seed implant has emerged as a rational and highly effective approach to radiation-dose escalation for intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer.
