Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting males in the U.S.; although almost one in six men in the U.S
. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer the illness has a low mortality rate of one in thirty four. A number of radiation treatments are used to neutralize the cancerous cells found in the prostate. A specialized medical profession, radiation oncologists are responsible for delivering prostate cancer radiation treatment.
Amongst the options for prostate cancer radiation treatment are brachytherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy and external beam radiation therapy. The oldest prostate cancer radiation treatment used in the U.S., stereotactic body radiotherapy has been used for over a quarter of a century in the U.S. High doses of radiation from radioactive materials are beamed directly from a specialized machine to the targeted areas in the body. The benefits of this form of prostate cancer radiation treatment are that it is non-invasive and requires an average of five treatments.
External beam radiation therapy is another non-invasive prostate cancer radiation treatment that uses radioactive material to destroy cancerous cells. Delivered over a number of weeks, this form of prostate cancer radiation treatment takes the form of daily therapies delivered over around 30 minutes per day. Developments in technology allow radiation oncologists to target the cancerous cells and lower the amount of radiation received by the normal cells surrounding the cancerous. As this form of prostate cancer radiation therapy lasts for an average of between six and ten weeks the side effects of the treatment are commonly felt. Side effects include painful and uncomfortable urination, and tiredness.
Brachytherapy is an invasive treatment used for prostate cancer, which is usually delivered by an oncologist who places the patient under anesthesia before undertaking the procedure. Two methods of delivering the prostate cancer radiation treatment are available; the first requires small metal seeds coated with radioactive material to be inserted into the glands of the prostate, the second sees radioactive material inserted into the prostate for up to two days before being removed. The first method using metal seeds allows the radioactivity of the seeds to fade away over time and the metal seeds remain in the prostate glands. The second prostate cancer radiation treatment method requires the radioactive material to be inserted into the prostate through the use of wires remotely controlled by the oncologist. Both the wires and the radioactive material are left in place for two days until they are removed by the radiation oncologist.