Prostate Cancer Seed Implants
Prostate Cancer Seed Implants
Prostate Cancer Seed Implants is the fastest growing method of treating prostate cancer in the United States. The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center Radiation Oncology Department is the region’s leader in Prostate Cancer Seed Implants. Prostate Cancer Seed Implants is a minimally invasive procedure requiring no open surgery.
This outpatient procedure takes only a few hours, with most patients returning to normal activities within two to three days. The goal of the treatment is to kill cancer cells with radiation while preserving healthy tissue.
Doctors use the tiny radioactive seeds to target the tumor and to control the area exposed to radiation. During the Prostate Cancer Seed Implants, the patient is placed under anesthesia while doctors use thin needles to implant the seeds in the prostate.
The advantages of seed implants are significant: the treatment requires only minor surgery, causes fewer side effects than other treatments cause, and requires only a short hospital stay. Patients often go home either the same day or the morning after the procedure, and most are able to return to work within two days. In addition, recent reports suggest that the procedure is at least as effective as surgery or external radiation as a cure for prostate cancer.
All patients undergo thorough evaluation to determine stage and extent of disease, which determines the appropriate use of seeds, external beam and hormones. Prostate Cancer Seed Implants alone is used in early low risk patients. In other patients, Prostate Cancer Seed Implants is used as a boost after external beam radiotherapy to the pelvis.
Additional hormone therapy is used in high-risk patients. Experts use ultrasound and sophisticated computer programs to help guide placement of the radioactive seeds. All patients undergo evaluation by CT scanning to ensure that the pelvic bones do not interfere with proper placement of needles in the entire prostate.