Depending on the location, staging and Gleason score of a patient’s prostate cancer, a physician may recommend hormone therapy and/or external beam radiation be combined with brachytherapy treatment. Since each seed radiates only the immediately surrounding tissue, combination treatment may ensure that cancer cells spreading outside of the prostate capsule are treated and eradicated.

Hormone therapy causes the cells to become more susceptible to external beam radiation treatments. A physician’s standard protocol and a patient’s condition determine whether EBRT treatment occurs before or after seed implantation.