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Prostate CancerProstate cancer is the most common cancer in men and it’s estimated that 17% or one in six men will get this disease. Always start with the NCCN guidelines for patients or for physicians. For a basic understanding of the disease go here and for pictures of anatomy here and for imaging (e.g. CT, MRI or ultrasound) go here. The treatment options have gotten quite complicated and include more sophisticated radiation including seed implants and IMRT but now also Tomotherapy and Cyberknife.
It’s important to understand the type and frequency of side effects in order to make decisions about treatment, particularly if there a several effective treatment options to chose with similar cure rates. For more detailed information and links about prostate cancer go here.
Prostate Seeds
For men with a small prostate gland (less than 55cc) and an early stage cancer (i.e. low Gleason score of 6 or less and a PSA less than 10) then a seed implant alone may be quite effective. For patients with more advanced cancer (higher Gleason score or PSA over 10) then a combination of external beam irradiation plus seeds may be a good approach For patients with low risk cancer but a big gland, shrinking the gland down first with hormone therapy (e.g. Lupron or Zoladex) may be an option and then once the gland is less than 55cc proceeding with a seed implant
see the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) guidelines | |
For a discussion of the treatment options go 
