subject: What To Know About Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy [print this page] Before opting for any type of treatment, a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer should know his options. Although doctors may recommend expensive conventional forms of treatment such as radiation therapy for prostate cancer, such treatments usually carry many negative side effects. Patients need to know all of the options available and should read different opinions online about conventional vs. alternative treatments for prostate cancer. Alternative treatments carry fewer side effects and are relatively inexpensive. However, if the cancer has progressed to a certain level, conventional treatments such as prostate cancer radiation treatment may be the better option. As far as radiation goes, the patient can opt for external or internal radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
External Radiation Therapy: External therapy is a form of prostate cancer radiation therapy that utilizes machines that target the prostate from outside the body and shoot radioactive beams to destroy cancerous cells. This is also known as radiation beam therapy. The most popular types of radioactive beam therapy include proton beam therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), and 3D conformational therapy. Until recently, IMRT has been the most popular and effective form of external beam therapy. Proton therapy is a newer and more expensive form of treatment that has been able to achieve higher results than IMRT according to certain studies. External radiation therapy is usually administered 5 days per week for a period of about 8 or 9 weeks. Thus, the patient will constantly be in and out of the hospital throughout treatment.
Internal Radiation Therapy: Internal radiation is a form of prostate cancer radiation therapy that has some advantages over external beam therapy. This prostate cancer radiation treatment involves the internal placement of radioactive materials sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters directly into the prostate. One popular form or internal radiation therapy is called brachytherapy, in which doctors implant tiny radioactive seeds directly into the prostate. These seeds can be placed in for a few minutes and then promptly removed or can be left in the prostate permanently and pose no threat to the patient as their radioactivity slowly wears off. A few advantages of internal radiation therapy include targeting and time commitment. By placing radioactive materials directly in the prostate, radioactive waves are less likely to damage other organs. Also, permanent seed implants can be placed in one time and thats the end of the treatment. Using this form of brachytherapy would save the patient a lot of time compared to 5 hospital visits per week for external beam therapy.
by: prostate cancer
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