brachytherapy (seeds)

[Guest guest]

What is the latest information anyone has on the types of seed implant therapy available, and also the warnings involved (do you have to stay away from certain populations for a time period do to radioactivity)? My brother lives in a large group home/residence. there are no children, but different nurses work there daily who might be pregnant. Thank you.

Dana

[Guest guest]

I wrote:

> I recommend going to the website of the Prostate Cancer Research

> Institute and searching on brachytherapy. 101 items will be presented.

Oops. That website is: http://www.prostate-cancer.org/index.html

Sorry, not enough coffee.

Regards,

Steve J

[Guest guest]

I wrote:

> I recommend going to the website of the Prostate Cancer Research

> Institute and searching on brachytherapy. 101 items will be presented.

Oops. That website is: http://www.prostate-cancer.org/index.html

Sorry, not enough coffee.

Regards,

Steve J

[Guest guest]

Dana Jaffe wrote:

> What is the latest information anyone has on the types of seed

> implant therapy available, and also the warnings involved (do

> you have to stay away from certain populations for a time

> period do to radioactivity) ? My brother lives in a large

> group home/residence. there are no children, but different

> nurses work there daily who might be pregnant. Thank you.

I'm not an expert on this and can't give you an authoritative

answer. Your brother should call the radiation oncologist's

office and get some advice there. I'm sure that many of the

nurses and technicians will have an authoritative answer.

Now having said that, and since this is the Internet after all

where all of us can pretend we know what we're talking about,

I'll share my possibly useless thoughts.

It is my understanding that most of the radiation emitted by the

radioactive seeds is absorbed within the first few millimeters

around the seed. That's why they need so many seeds instead of

planting just one or a few to treat the whole prostate.

It is also my understanding that the rate of radiation delivery

is pretty low. The seeds take months to deliver their full dose

to the prostate, so anyone coming in close proximity to the

patient for a period of seconds or minutes will receive a tiny,

tiny fraction of the tiny, tiny fraction of radiation that

manages to pass clear through the body and into the surrounding

environment.

Finally, it is also my understanding that the strength of the

radiation is proportional to the square of the distance from the

source. So even if there is no absorption, the strength of the

radiation drops off rapidly as a person moves further away from

the patient.

So for all of those reasons, I suspect that the patient poses no

danger to anyone around him.

On the other hand, if your brother plans to hold one of his

grandchildren on his lap, it couldn't hurt to consult the

doctor's office first.

Alan