Brachytherapy monotherapy for older men with prostate cancer

Abstract

Men with low-risk localized prostate cancer are presented with several definitive treatment choices: radical prostatectomy, external-beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy. Although these three treatment choices confer a statistically equivalent likelihood of long- term disease-free survival, these therapies differ in their acute and long-term side-effect profiles. Brachytherapy is a minimally invasive radiotherapy procedure, and is an excellent treatment in men who do not want, or are unable to tolerate, a prostatectomy. The following article will present an overview of the epidemiology of prostate cancer, brachytherapy eligibility and a description of the techniques, side effects and efficacy, with a special emphasis on applicability to older men.