Local Radiation Therapy Instead Of Radical Surgery? Prostate Cancer

Local radiation therapy instead of radical surgery?brachytherapy

As a curative form of treatment - treatment with great healing opportunities - of localized prostate carcinoma is the radical prostatectomy (total removal of the prostate ) , external radiotherapy and interstitial (local) brachytherapy.

The brachytherapy seed implantation ( irradiation with radioisotopes ) is in localized prostate cancer in competition with radical prostatectomy , the conventional radiation and early hormone therapy.Approximately 50% of localized prostate cancers are fed to a brachytherapy in the United States. In Europe, brachytherapy is an increasing spread . However, the assumption of costs by the cash is still unclear.

The radical prostatectomy is still the standard treatment option for localized prostate cancer in the Germany . However, the American Prostate Cancer Guidelines Panel comes from a literature analysis to the conclusion that currently there is no clear distinction between the processes of radical surgery , external radiotherapy and brachytherapy . For external irradiation, the survival rates are almost comparable to radical prostatectomy at similar stages.

Interstitial brachytherapy is an alternative to the above methods . The transperineal brachytherapy applied using iodine -125 or Palladium103 . However, brachytherapy is indicated in patients with a limited to the organ cancer with low PSA levels and low Gleason score .

The performed under transrectal ultrasound guidance transperineal implantation in spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia is a standard technique today.

Brachytherapy is generally before or during treatment with hormone therapy - combined LHRH analogues.

According to studies on quality of life after 3 to 7.5 months of the patient's life is disturbed again . The benefits of brachytherapy for additional burdensome diseases in which a radical prostatectomy does not come into question. After radical prostatectomy , 79% , 85 % after 7 years after brachytherapy recurrence .

A compelling indication for brachytherapy seed implantation is according to general opinion at the time not because the other methods have at least equivalent results to the result . So far , no data exist that can prove the superiority of this form of therapy in the context of secured Studies