Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor in men in Germany.
If the tumor is detected early, for example during a screening, the chances of recovery are very good. Prostate cancer, as the medical term is used, is usually treated by means of surgery, whereby the prostate is usually completely removed together with the appendages. Patients are usually hospitalized for around ten days during this procedure.
Radiotherapy can be used as an alternative to surgery. This lasts for around two months, during which radiation appointments must be made repeatedly.
Seed implantation – radiation from the inside out
The procedure is completely different with brachytherapy, a modern method of treating prostate cancer in which the organ is practically irradiated from the inside out. Small, rice grain-sized radioactive platelets, known as seeds, are implanted through the skin into the prostate with a needle and placed precisely there. Doctors therefore refer to this innovative procedure as “seed implantation”. The term “seed” comes from the English and means “grain”.
“The procedure is usually performed under general anaesthetic and takes around one to one and a half hours,” explains Dr. Stefan Carl. “It’s all done without a scalpel and without an incision, the patient remains unharmed on the outside and the prostate also remains in the body,” says the doctor, describing the advantages of brachytherapy.
The small “grains” develop their effect in the prostate by irradiating the tumor in a targeted and precisely dosed manner and not simultaneously irradiating healthy tissue or other organs. The radiation activity of the seeds ceases approximately one year after implantation.
Although the procedure is nowhere near as stressful as surgical removal of the prostate, brachytherapy is a complex surgical procedure in which various specialists – from radiotherapists and urologists to medical physicists – work closely together as a team. Nevertheless, the patient can leave the Emmendingen District Hospital on the second day after the procedure.
Brachytherapy therefore has a number of advantages: It offers equally good chances of recovery, but is much gentler on the patient and has fewer side effects than conventional surgery or external radiation.
According to the medical guidelines of the European Society of Urology, the procedure can be considered for comparatively less aggressive tumors. It is also recognized for moderately aggressive tumours.
The treatment concept in our department is adapted to each patient’s individual situation and the respective tumor stage.
