High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for the Treatment of Low-, Intermediate-, and High-Risk Prostate Cancer

Interstitial rotating shield brachytherapy for prostate cancer

“…Patients with localized prostate cancer are typically treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) alone, 1,2 EBRT in combination with high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT), [3][4][5][6][7][8] EBRT in combination with low-dose-rate brachytherapy, 9 EBRT in combination with pulsed-doserate brachytherapy, 10,11 low-dose-rate monotherapy, 12 or HDR-BT monotherapy. 13,14 Radical prostatectomy is also a treatment option.…”

“…[15][16][17][18][19] Surgery carries a greater risk of urinary incontinence than radiotherapy 18 and possibly higher sexual dysfunction rates. 18,19 Regardless of the treatment technique, 5-year relative survival rates are typically above 90%, 7,20 and anticipated complications are important in selecting the appropriate treatment technique for prostate cancer. 17-19, 21, 22 Brachytherapy techniques have been reported to provide lower rectal toxicity than EBRT techniques, 18 and combined EBRT and HDR-BT have been shown to have greater late genitourinary toxicity than EBRT alone.…”