On the list of medical treatments developed to fight against the prostate cancer we find the radiation therapy which is a procedure developed in the early twentieth century and has the effect of damaging the DNA of a cancerous cell so that is won’t be able to multiply.

In its early history this method consisted of intraprostatic radium implants but once the radiation sources became stronger, external beam procedure became the popular choice for radiation therapy.

Radiation therapy includes brachytheraphy or internal beam radiation, referring to the direct placing of the treatment or at a short distance away from the infected tissue, and the EBRT or external beam radiation therapy where x-rays with a high energy are directed towards the tumor area.

The brachytherapy procedure was invented back in 1901, when Pierre Curie and Henri-Alexandre Danlos decided to experiment a little by inserting the radioactive source into the tumor. The result was the obvious shrinking of the tumor. In parallel, in New York, at St. Luke’s and Memorial Hospital, Robert Abbe tried to develop new application techniques for brachytherapy, but for the treatment of the prostate cancer it was used much later in time, only since 1983.



The brachy part from the brachytherapy word comes from the greek translation of “short-distance” because the radiation therapy is placed at a short distance from the damaged tissue; it is also known as internal beam radiation, the radioactive seeds being directly inserted in the prostate gland through needles thus avoiding the damaging of the surrounding organs or body parts.

The brachytherapy is being categorized into three different types according to: the intensity or rate of the irradiation dose on the tumor, being a low-rate dose (LDR), medium-dose rate (MDR), high-dose rate (HDR) and pulsed-dose rate (PDR); the duration of the dose delivered to the tumor, being either temporary or permanent, and the placement of the known sources of radiation on the infected area.

The temporary brachytherapy is defined as the direct placement of the radiation sources for a short period of time, usually few minutes or hours, depending on the size, type and location of the cancer and the required dose rate; the seed implantation procedure known as permanent brachytherapy is mostly effective in treating the prostate cancer and is done by placing LDR radioactive pellets or seeds, very small in size, into the tumor and leave them there until they eventually decay.

The use of brachytherapy has some side effects and I shall list just some of the most common: the urinary incontinence, dysuria or painful urination, urinary retention, diarrhea, potential rectal bleeding, constipation; these irritating symptoms will probably disappear in a matter of few days or weeks. If the brachytherapy is permanent, there is a possibility, as a side-effect, that some of the implanted seeds will migrate out of the region of treatment and go into the urethra or bladder and eventually passed in the urinary liquid.

We do know that radiation therapy has some side effects like impotence and incontinence, but they are less frequent if we compare this treatment with surgery; also cryotherapy had some less favorable results in treating an advanced form of prostate cancer than radiation therapy.

Of course, before deciding for this method of treatment the doctor will surely explain in details just how this treatment is done, step by step, and what are its risks. After the staging of the prostate cancer the medical professionals will have to recommend the right treatment for your prostate cancer stage, so just carefully listen to their advices and only after that decide of your own.