Radioactive particle implantation is not appropriate for all prostate cancer patients.
However, with the trend toward early diagnosis of prostate cancer, it is increasingly indicated. The main indications are: patients under 75 years of age, prostate specific antigenPSA less than 10 ng/ml, slow tumor growth (Gleason score of 6 or less), early tumor stage (T2b or earlier), and prostate volume less than 40 cubic centimeters.
These conditions will vary from one treatment center to another. Patients with prostate tumors that do not meet all of these criteria, or patients with abnormalities in the pelvis that block the prostate, are not good candidates for radioactive particle implantation.
Particle implantation is an internal radiation therapy that can provide a higher dose of radiation exposure at a safer rate than external radiation therapy, except that it is at a lower dose rate, but it provides a long-term, possibly up to 12 months of radiation exposure.
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