Re: High-Dose Brachytherapy As Cure for Localized Prostate Cancer

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the information. I was speaking to several urologists and

it is amazing that they were telling me how many Dr's use both forms

of radiation, internal and external and that it is not proven that

together is any better than one or the other but the financial gain

is immense! millions and millions...

Dan

>

> High-dose-rate brachytherapy is a relatively new radiotherapeutic

> intervention that is used as a curative treatment for patients with

> many types of cancer. Advances in mechanical systems and computer

> applications result in a sophisticated treatment technique that

> reliably delivers a high-quality radiation dose distribution to the

> intended target. Patients with localized prostate cancer may benefit

> from high-dose-rate brachytherapy, which may be used alone in

certain

> circumstances or in combination with external-beam radiotherapy in

> other settings.

> Click on the below link for the full

story:<http://www.urotoday.com/61/browse_categories/prostate_cancer/hi

ghdoserate_brachytherapy_in_the_curative_treatment_of_patients_with_lo

calized_prostate_cancer__abstract.html>

>

[Guest guest]

I can't seem to get indentation formatted messages to work

using theYahoo mail client and Yahoo Groups.

My last message was therefore pretty unreadable. Here it is

again, using numbered items to make it (hopefully) a little

easier to read.

------------------------------------------------------------

Some current radiation options include:

1. Low dose brachytherapy with permanent seeds.

2. High dose with seeds that come in and out again.

3. Small fraction external beam with any of:

3.a 3DCRT

3.b IMRT

3.c IGRT

4. " Hypofractionated " external beam with Cyberknife.

5. External beam with protons.

6. Various combinations of the above.

7. Various combinations of the above combined with various

combinations of neo-adjuvant and adjuvant hormone therapy.

Next week there might be more of them.

Is one of these the best for treatment outcome and/or side effect

profiles?

I don't know if anyone knows the answer, but there are a few

general rules that I'm aware of:

1. Brachytherapy alone should not be used if it is thought that the

cancer may have penetrated outside the capsule. If it has (or

the Gleason or PSA scores indicate a significant likelihood of

that), then some kind of external beam should be used to treat

the area around the prostate that seeds don't reach.

2. If the cancer is thought to be intermediate or high risk,

neo-adjuvant hormone therapy (therapy started some weeks or

months before radiation and continuing through it) is thought to

improve the outcomes.

There are differences in the treatment regimen that may make a

difference to some patients:

1. Low dose brachytherapy can be administered in a single session,

typically with a single night's hospital stay.

2. High dose brachytherapy typically requires two or three hospital

procedures, which may be separated by weeks (I had two of them,

five weeks apart.)

3. External beam takes 35-40 sessions (fewer if combined with

brachytherapy), but with no hospital stay.

4. Cyberknife takes about 5 sessions (I think.)

What should a patient do if he wants radiation?

In my view, he should find the best radiation oncologist he can

find, at the best clinic, and listen to his advice.

--

Alan

[Guest guest]

I can't seem to get indentation formatted messages to work

using theYahoo mail client and Yahoo Groups.

My last message was therefore pretty unreadable. Here it is

again, using numbered items to make it (hopefully) a little

easier to read.

------------------------------------------------------------

Some current radiation options include:

1. Low dose brachytherapy with permanent seeds.

2. High dose with seeds that come in and out again.

3. Small fraction external beam with any of:

3.a 3DCRT

3.b IMRT

3.c IGRT

4. " Hypofractionated " external beam with Cyberknife.

5. External beam with protons.

6. Various combinations of the above.

7. Various combinations of the above combined with various

combinations of neo-adjuvant and adjuvant hormone therapy.

Next week there might be more of them.

Is one of these the best for treatment outcome and/or side effect

profiles?

I don't know if anyone knows the answer, but there are a few

general rules that I'm aware of:

1. Brachytherapy alone should not be used if it is thought that the

cancer may have penetrated outside the capsule. If it has (or

the Gleason or PSA scores indicate a significant likelihood of

that), then some kind of external beam should be used to treat

the area around the prostate that seeds don't reach.

2. If the cancer is thought to be intermediate or high risk,

neo-adjuvant hormone therapy (therapy started some weeks or

months before radiation and continuing through it) is thought to

improve the outcomes.

There are differences in the treatment regimen that may make a

difference to some patients:

1. Low dose brachytherapy can be administered in a single session,

typically with a single night's hospital stay.

2. High dose brachytherapy typically requires two or three hospital

procedures, which may be separated by weeks (I had two of them,

five weeks apart.)

3. External beam takes 35-40 sessions (fewer if combined with

brachytherapy), but with no hospital stay.

4. Cyberknife takes about 5 sessions (I think.)

What should a patient do if he wants radiation?

In my view, he should find the best radiation oncologist he can

find, at the best clinic, and listen to his advice.

--

Alan

[Guest guest]

I can't seem to get indentation formatted messages to work

using theYahoo mail client and Yahoo Groups.

My last message was therefore pretty unreadable. Here it is

again, using numbered items to make it (hopefully) a little

easier to read.

------------------------------------------------------------

Some current radiation options include:

1. Low dose brachytherapy with permanent seeds.

2. High dose with seeds that come in and out again.

3. Small fraction external beam with any of:

3.a 3DCRT

3.b IMRT

3.c IGRT

4. " Hypofractionated " external beam with Cyberknife.

5. External beam with protons.

6. Various combinations of the above.

7. Various combinations of the above combined with various

combinations of neo-adjuvant and adjuvant hormone therapy.

Next week there might be more of them.

Is one of these the best for treatment outcome and/or side effect

profiles?

I don't know if anyone knows the answer, but there are a few

general rules that I'm aware of:

1. Brachytherapy alone should not be used if it is thought that the

cancer may have penetrated outside the capsule. If it has (or

the Gleason or PSA scores indicate a significant likelihood of

that), then some kind of external beam should be used to treat

the area around the prostate that seeds don't reach.

2. If the cancer is thought to be intermediate or high risk,

neo-adjuvant hormone therapy (therapy started some weeks or

months before radiation and continuing through it) is thought to

improve the outcomes.

There are differences in the treatment regimen that may make a

difference to some patients:

1. Low dose brachytherapy can be administered in a single session,

typically with a single night's hospital stay.

2. High dose brachytherapy typically requires two or three hospital

procedures, which may be separated by weeks (I had two of them,

five weeks apart.)

3. External beam takes 35-40 sessions (fewer if combined with

brachytherapy), but with no hospital stay.

4. Cyberknife takes about 5 sessions (I think.)

What should a patient do if he wants radiation?

In my view, he should find the best radiation oncologist he can

find, at the best clinic, and listen to his advice.

--

Alan