Some people doing brachytherapy use hormonal therapy (androgen blockade) in all patients. Is this necessary, since I would really prefer to avoid it?
In recent years, the demand for seeds so outstripped the supply that hormonal therapy was used during the 2-3 months required to process the order for seeds. Patients were often told there was a need to shrink the prostate. Now, seed manufacturers have markedly increased production capacity, and there is not a large delay in obtaining seeds. The only patients who really do need to receive androgen blockade before implantation are those who truly require prostate shrinkage because the volume is over 60 cc, and those with high risk disease who are also undergoing combined external radiotherapy. In our experience, pre-implant androgen blockade is necessary in only 30-40% of patients. • A friend of mine went to someone in the South who required that he move there for two months so he could receive external radiation there using a special technique that would “cut out the cancer with radiation” after he had the brachytherapy implant. Is this possible? No. No form of external radiation combi
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