Talk:Brachytherapy
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I am wondering, does anyone know whether the radioactive seeds used in Prostate Brachytherapy remain in-situ when the rods/catheters are removed after the three or so treatments?144.137.250.17 15:27, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
- Do you mean with Interstitial HDR Prostate Brachy? They are removed - the source is attached to the end of the wire. I believe there is a seed implantation method of brachy too - my department doesn't perform that one so I don't know about that one (I'm a computer guy working in a radonc dept, so I only know what I pick up from the physicists :-) --Surturz 04:25, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
Seeds remain in situ for prostate brachtherapy as they release a constant dose rate over time (several months) to the prostate. The half life of I-125 is around 2 months. Typically we implant maybe 100 tiny seeds per patient sometimes deep inside the prostate. They are around 4 mm long so retrieving them after they have done the job may be a little tricky! They will decay over time and present no external hazard outside the skin of the patient. HDR brachy therapy however uses much higher dose larger sources which are designed to give a dose of radiation over a much shorter time. Hope this helps.194.176.105.40 14:31, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
