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What is the first step?
Before the procedure, a doctor performs an ultrasound volume study. Images of the prostate are taken in increments and then reassembled, creating a three-dimensional computer model indicating the area to be targeted by radiation. A map of the prostate gland is created to determine the correct coordinates for needle and seed placement, and to help the doctor decide how many seeds to implant. Physicians use the map as a guide during the procedure.

Describe the procedure.
Brachytherapy is usually performed in an outpatient hospital setting by a medical team including a urologist, radiation oncologist and radiation physicist. Typically, a patient receives local anesthesia and does not feel anything below the waist. Often, medication is used to induce relaxation and drowsiness. Using ultrasound equipment to see inside the body, the physician inserts thin, hollow needles into the prostate gland and deposits about 75 to 150 tiny seeds. The one-time procedure lasts approximately 45 minutes. Most patients leave the hospital within hours and resume routine activities in about two to three days. That’s it. While it’s based on hard science and years of independent clinical research, patients typically experience only a few hours of inconvenience.

During the next few months, the radioactive ingredient, palladium-103 (Pd-103), fights cancer from inside the body. It delivers a highly concentrated, yet confined dose of radiation directly to surrounding cells, minimizing exposure to nearby healthy tissues and organs. The seeds remain in place permanently and are compatible with body tissues.

How long does it take?
Typically, the procedure lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. Afterward, the patient rests in a recovery room and usually goes home after the anesthesia wears off. Patients are sometimes prescribed an antibiotic, but usually no pain medication is required. The advantages of TheraSeed^® treatment are significant when compared to radical prostatectomy, which involves a one-to-four-hour surgical procedure, an average hospital stay of three days and up to eight weeks of recovery.