High-Dose Rate Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer

High-Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy is an innovative form of internal radiotherapy (radiation treatments), also called interstitial irradiation. The comprehensive, aggressive approach to treatment at Cancer Treatment Centers of America frequently uses internal radiotherapy for cancers of the breast, cervix, lung, prostate, rectum, tongue, and uterus.

If you have prostate cancer, HDR Brachytherapy may greatly reduce both your recovery time and the likelihood of impotence, and reduces the risk of incontinence when compared to radical prostatectomy. Expert radiation oncologists at Cancer Treatment Centers of America place a series of tiny catheters into and around the tumor, calculating specific doses of radiation for multiple portions of the prostate.

Brachytherapy is a quicker, more effective way to give radiation treatments. Brachytherapy places the radiation inside your tumor, tightly focused within the site of the cancer. This technique ensures the maximum radiation dose is given where you need it most, while allowing little radiation to reach the healthy surrounding tissue. In many cases, Brachytherapy is an effective alternative to surgical removal of a tumor and the affected organ.

Some of the potential benefits of HDR Brachytherapy are:

• The entire treatment takes one and a half days instead of 5-7 weeks.
• The radiation dose is concentrated within the area of your body where the tumor was previously removed. Less radiation will reach the healthy part of the affected organ, and your body as a whole.
• Side effects may be reduced, because HDR does not cause irritation and burning to your skin that is sometimes associated with external radiation.