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. This is therefore a good option and choice for those patients who have prostate cancer and do not want invasive treatment or surgery.

Patients who wish to have radiotherapy as treatment for prostate cancer must have a 6 or lower Gleason score and a 10 or lower PSA level. This will indicate that the cancer is contained or localized in the prostate gland itself and not spread beyond to surrounding tissues or the bone. The best part of this type of prostate radiation therapy is that the treatment eradicates the cancer without harming or affecting the surrounding tissues and organs.

Both 3D-CRT and IMRT are prostate radiation treatments that can help the patient to a great extent. If the cancer has unfortunately spread outside the prostate gland, it is not easy to treat and the risks to surrounding tissues and organs are greater.

Those who are thinking of undergoing brachytherapy, radical prostatectomy and cryotherapy could also consider having radiotherapy as the first/primary monotherapy. Patients who do not want to have invasive procedures of any kind should consider brachytherapy. Doctors sometimes recommend EBRT for those who cannot tolerate any other type of procedure either due to health reasons or age.

It is a fact that external radiation therapy can expose tissue of the rectum or bladder that is healthy, to the radiation. Scar tissue from previous surgery in the area of the abdomen causes the intestines and the colon to be exposed to radiation. Thus, patients with this particular problem would have to have other treatments. In the same way, patients who have already undergone radiation treatments in the pelvic region would not be allowed to have this type of prostate radiation again.

Prostate radiation therapy
• This generally begins with a computer tomography/CT scan of the prostate gland and surrounding tissues/organs.
• Radiation physicists then target a particular area for the beam. The target area is usually marked (permanent ink is used) so that correct positioning of the beam is ensured.
• Alignment lasers are also used to direct the beam. To make sure the target area is hit with the beam from different angles the linear accelerator moves in all directions.

3-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy
This type of prostate radiation therapy uses an immobilization device. This is important because the target area of the patient has to be immobile. Specialised software is used to take detailed pictures of the internal anatomy of the patient. The linear accelerator then aims the radiation beam at the targeted areas in the pictures taken during the CT scan. In this way a stronger dose can be administered to the patient’s prostate gland while other organs and tissues that surround it receive less radiation. The Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy has a beam that is modified so that the prostate radiation is delivered at small intervals from numerous angles.