Seed implants better for prostate cancer

CHICAGO, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Two studies say brachytherapy -- radiation seed implants -- is a superior treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, officials at a Chicago non-profit say.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago and The Taussig Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic say two independent studies show brachytherapy produces a superior disease-free survival rate among patients with early-stage prostate cancer.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago analyzed 9,137 patients who were treated for prostate cancer with brachytherapy between 1997 and 2008 at Chicago Prostate Center. The study says 67.5 percent of the patients were regarded as low risk, 29.36 percent as intermediate and 1.01 percent as high. For those patients, overall cure rates were 96 percent, 84 percent and 75 percent for low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients, respectively.

When combined with external beam radiation therapy in intermediate- and high-risk patients, the brachytherapy results far exceed those of surgery, the study says.

Researchers at the Taussig Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic say for low-risk patients prostate cancer patients, brachytherapy was equally successful as external beam radiation, but more successful than a radical prostatectomy -- prostate removal.