Prostate Seed Therapy
Sutter Cancer Center Treatments & Services
According to the American Cancer Society, one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only one man in 30 will die of this disease. While there are several treatment options, including surgery, many doctors choose prostate seed therapy because of its ability to treat cancer without affecting surrounding healthy tissue, helping to minimize the risk of impotence or incontinence. Though the technique is somewhat new, preliminary data show that 90 percent of patients treated with prostate seed therapy remain cancer free after five years.
Also called interstitial radiation and brachytherapy, prostate seed implantation involves a surgical procedure to implant up to 130 low-dose radioactive "seeds" into the prostate through 30 to 40 long, slender needles. The procedure takes less than two hours and patients return home the same day, resuming normal activity in three to 14 days. The seeds continue delivering radiation for several weeks and remain in place permanently.
Doctors sometimes elect a more aggressive treatment using seeds with higher radioactive content. The seeds remain in place for only a few days before being removed. As a more aggressive treatment with higher radioactivity levels, patients remain hospitalized until the seeds are once again removed.
Prostate seed therapy is available at Sutter Cancer Center, Roseville and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital.
More information about prostate seed therapy treatments is available in prostate cancer section of our Health Information Library. Also see Robotic Surgery for prostate cancer treatment. Additional information is also available from the National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov and the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org.