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I have done lot of research on Brachytherapy for my husband. My husband will be doing LDR on April 9th, I will keep you posted on his follow up. He will be having the newest seed implants Cesium 131.
I have noticed many men choose surgery for various reasons. But it was interesting to find out that a man has to qualify for the Brachytherapy he had to have ultra sound volume study. And this was one piece of information that I didn't find online. We are glad that he did qualify.
I wish you and your husband good luck with the procedure. I did much research before my inplant last Mar. and low and behold about a week after mine (97 Pd103), I saw litrature on the new Cesium seeds. I would explain the difference between Iodine, Paladium, and Cesium like this. They all deliver the predetermined dosage of radiation. They all emit for about the same distance (roughly 1cm). Cesium has the strongest initial radiation followed by Paladium and Iodine. Iodine has the longest half- life, followed by Paladium and Cesium. So even though cesium puts out very stronly compared to Iodine at first, it doesn't stay around as long. Theory is that if you can get the right dosage of radiation for a shorter time there will be less time dealing with acute side effects. There are still many doctors that use the longer acting Iodine seeds for certain PCa's and they have the data to back it up. I feel that all will probably show the same success rates.
About the Ultrasound/Volume Study: unless one had a very largeprostate or suspicious skeletal blockage of the insertion route, qualification is usually made with assessment of the T, Gleason, and PSA staging. One might also be asked to undergo Cat or bone scanning. The Ultrasound/Volume study is (someone out there correct me if I'm wrong) a tool to build a virtual 3D model of the prostate to determine the most desirable seed placement.
"The Ultrasound/Volume study is (someone out there correct me if I'm wrong) a tool to build a virtual 3D model of the prostate to determine the most desirable seed placement."
That's the way it was explained to me Pat ... that, plus determining if the prostate's size had been reduced enough for the procedure.
I sure didn't like that procedure. Felt like the Doctor was twisting a baseball bat around inside me ... then again, I'm a big baby when it comes to medical procedures.
