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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Prostate Cancer Patients Have High Survival Rates
with Seed Implants
'Quality of the seed implant is a critical ingredient
for achieving a better outcome'
 January
31, 2007 - More than ninety percent of men who receive appropriate
radiation dose levels with permanent radiation seed implants to treat
their prostate cancer are cured of their cancer eight years after
diagnosis, according to a new study. This follows a report released
earlier this month finding 74% of men treated with seed implants and
external beam radiation therapy are cured of their prostate cancer 15
years following their treatment.
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Health & Medicine |
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Seed implants have become a widely-accepted
treatment option for early stage prostate cancer because it is very
effective at curing the cancer, is minimally invasive and often spares
patients from side effects of other treatments, such as impotence and
incontinence. The seeds, similar in size to a grain of rice, contain a
radiation dose that, once implanted, delivers concentrated radiation to
the prostate, sparing surrounding organs and tissue.
Doctors in this study evaluated the long-term
results of permanent seed implants in men with early stage prostate
cancer. Nearly 2,700 men were studied at 11 institutions in the United
States over eight years. It is reported in the February 1 issue of the
International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the
official journal of ASTRO.
The radioactive seeds were administered with the
aid of ultrasound-guided techniques to accurately place the seeds in the
prostate gland. The patients received the seed implants as the sole
treatment for prostate cancer with no additional chemotherapy or
radiation therapy.
Seed implants, also called brachytherapy, are small
radioactive pellets, each about the size of a grain of rice. The seeds
are inserted into the prostate through small needles during a brief
outpatient procedure. External beam radiation therapy involves a series
of 25 short daily outpatient treatments, where a radiation oncologist
precisely directs high energy radiation beams to kill cancer cells.
"This study is exciting because it shows that
brachytherapy alone without additional surgery, radiation or drugs can
be effective at curing early-stage prostate cancer," said Michael J.
Zelefsky, M.D., lead author of the study and Chief of Brachytherapy
Services at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
"These results also confirm other findings that the
quality of the seed implant is a critical ingredient for achieving a
better outcome."
Editor's Notes:
Medical centers participating in the study were
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer in New York, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston, New York Prostate Institute in Oceanside, N.Y., Arizona
Oncology Services in Scottsdale, Ariz., Seattle Prostate Institute in
Seattle, Chicago Prostate Institute in Chicago, Cleveland Clinic
Foundation in Cleveland, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Minn., University of Michigan Medical School in Ann
Arbor, Mich., and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
For more information about prostate cancer
treatment options, please visit
http://www.rtanswers.org/.
ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology society in
the world, with more than 8,500 members who specialize in treating
patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in
radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society is dedicated to the
advancement of the practice of radiation oncology by promoting
excellence in patient care, providing opportunities for educational and
professional development, promoting research and disseminating research
results and representing radiation oncology in a rapidly evolving
socioeconomic healthcare environment.
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