Radiation therapy for prostate cancer

Radiation therapy also called radiotherapy, uses high-energy rays to shrink tumors and stop cancer cells from growing. Like surgery, it's local therapy-that is, it affects only the cells in the treated area.
There are several kinds of radiation therapy. All are administered by a radiologist or radiation oncologist (a subspecialist in radiology who deals specifically with radiation therapy and cancer), who plan and supervise the treatment. The more common is external-beam radiotherapy, in which a machine aims rays at the tumor and the pelvic area.
External-beam radiotherapy may produce side effects such as diarrhea, cramping, and intestinal ulcers, all of which typically clear up within weeks after treatment ends.
Radiation therapy usually causes fatigue, and the kinds of therapy used in prostate cancer are no exception. Unlike other forms of radiation, though, radiation for prostate cancer doesn't have nausea or burns among its side effects. With external-beam radiation, the skin over the target area may turn red or become dry. But because the radiation is aimed precisely, patient don't get burns, hair loss, or nausea that often result when other parts of the body are irradiated. And there's no indication that it causes other tumors to develop.

Another kind of radiation therapy is delivered internal by radioactive material that's implated as "seeds" or "pellets" in and around the prostate. Internal radiation therapy is also known as brancytherepy or interstitial radiation therapy.
There is a growing variety of implants. Some are left in place permanently, while others are removed after they've served their purpose. The kind of tumor determines the choice of implant.
The seeds can be injected through needles with the help of ultrasound or by means of an open procedure ( a surgery that involves an incision)-either suprapubic or retropubic.
How long you're sequestered depends on the half-life of the implant (the length of time that it's highly radioactive). Once the radioactivity wears off, however, you don't need to worry about exposing others. Men with permanent implants can have sexual intercourse with no risk to their partners.
Choosing between the different forms of radiation and then making a further choice among the various implants is a highly complicated decision that ultimately must be left to the experts. It depends primary on the kind of tumor that's being treated.
Researchers reported an excellent survival rate for men who had the combined therapies.
Some men may have reasons-aside from tumor type-to choose one radiation therapy over the other. Not everybody can use implants. It's out of the question for a man whose rectum has been removed, because the prostate probe has to be placed through the rectum. Men can't have implants if they have large prostates or have had prior prostate surgery and don't have enough tissue to hold the seeds.
As with radical prostatectomy, there is no guarantee that radiation therapy will completely eradicate your cancer. Residual cancer is microscopic tumors found by biopsy several months after the treatment. This does't mean that the tumor has recurred but rather that cells were left behind when the prostate was removed.
Residual cancer is not necessarily fatal. While failure to "cure" can be fatal in other cancers, it's not at all clear how dangerous it is in the case of prostate cancer.
Because the radiation therapy for prostate cancer cannot be directed perfectly, they may damage both cancerous and healthy cells nearby. If the dose of radiation is small and spread over time, the cancer cells die while the healthy cells are able to recover and survive.