Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffProstate brachytherapy is a type of radiation therapy used to treat prostate cancer. If you have early stage prostate cancer, brachytherapy may be the only treatment used. For larger prostate cancers brachytherapy may be used along with other treatments, such as external beam radiation or hormone therapy.
Prostate brachytherapy is generally not used for advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes or to distant areas of the body.
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- Pisansky TM, et al. High-dose-rate brachytherapy in the curative treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2008;83:1364.
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- Radiation therapy for prostate cancer. American Society for Radiation Oncology. http://www.rtanswers.com/downloads/prostate.pdf. Accessed Dec. 16, 2010.
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- Radiation therapy. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/prostate-cancer-treating-radiation-therapy. Accessed Dec. 28, 2010.


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