Prostate Radiation

Radiation therapy used to treat prostate cancer is of two types: Brachytherapy and XRT (external radiation therapy). The external radiation therapy is called radiotherapy. 3D-CRT (Three dimensional conformal radiation therapy) and IMRT (Intensity modulated radiation therapy) are the new forms of EBRT. This prostate radiation therapy is non-invasive and aims high energy particles at the cancerous tissue.

alexandria doctor

Once diagnosed with prostate cancer, if the decision is made to treat the cancer with radiation, then the patient will receive one of two different possible radiation treatments. The stage of the cancer that the patient has will determine which type of radiation treatment the physician will recommend.

Radiation therapy, because of its numerous side effects, is seen as the last resort treatment for prostate cancer. That is why the people usually opting for radiation therapy are also those patients who have already gone through and tried all other options, and thus making a relatively safe procedure of radiation therapy having the highest mortality rate.

There are a number of options when it comes to prostate cancer treatment, but which option is used will depend on a number of different factors including the stage and grade of the cancer as well as the age, health, and personal preferences of the men who suffer from it.

Radiation therapy, because of its numerous side effects, is seen as the last resort treatment for prostate cancer. That is why the people usually opting for radiation therapy are also those patients who have already gone through and tried all other options, and thus making a relatively safe procedure of radiation therapy having the highest mortality rate.

There are two types of radiation therapy for prostate cancer: this outward radiation radiation and brachytherapy. Typically, radiation therapy is conducted on an outpatient basis, that is, a patient comes to irradiation and again after it goes home.

Prostate cancer is deadly to men over fifty, and is often so slow to really develop that it's not noticed until it's too late to remove by normal surgery. Although prostate cancer can be prevented by normal routine checkups and a healthy low-stress lifestyle, it's still possible for any male to develop prostate cancer. Because of this, prostate cancer radiation treatment is one of the most common methods of treating prostate cancer, and it's effective for the most part.

Prostate Cancer radiation treatment has a long history and has been used right from 1915. The first techniques resulted in morbidity and did not penetrate deeply to irradiate the tumors and also caused skin cancer. By the 1980s the linear accelerator was being used by oncologists, that helped to increase the speed of high energy particles and improved the beam's process aiming at the targeted area.