Treatment Choices for Prostate Cancer

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The treatment choices for prostate cancer depend on the stage of the disease, the grade of the tumor, the prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, and the patient's age and general health. Most men with disease confined to the prostate gland will be appropriate candidates for prostate brachytherapy.

Each treatment option offers comparable treatment results for prostate cancer patients with varying degrees of side effects. Common side effects are erectile dysfunction or impotence, urinary incontinence and rectal inflammation and bleeding.

• Radical Prostatectomy
• External Beam Radiation Therapy
• Prostate Brachytherapy

Radical Prostatectomy

Radical Prostatectomy, surgical removal of the prostate gland - prior to the development of external beam radiation therapy - has been one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer and requires an inpatient hospital stay. While this treatment has high success rates, it can result in a higher risk of impotence and incontinence than other treatment modalities. Surgeons now perform nerve-sparing prostatectomies in an attempt to reduce the risk of impotence.
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External Beam Radiation Therapy

External Beam Radiation Therapy directs beams of radiation externally on the entire prostate gland passing through healthy tissue to shrink the gland into a mass of inactive cells. Healthy uretheral and rectal tissues surrounding the prostate gland area can be damaged using this disease management approach. Treatment with external beam radiotherapy alone typically takes 8 to 9 weeks of outpatient radiation therapy sessions. When external beam radiotherapy is given in combination with brachytherapy, only 5 weeks of external beam radiation therapy is required prior to brachytherapy seed implant.
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Prostate Brachytherapy

Prostate Brachytherapy involves the transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided placement of radioactive seeds directly into the prostate gland. This technique allows a higher and more directed dose of radiation to be delivered to the prostate gland, essentially treating the tumor from the inside out rather than from the outside in. Decreased radiation doses to the surrounding normal tissues lowers the risk of long-term side effects.
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