Most lung cancers begin in the airways and often can cause obstruction of the airways. New methods most commonly treat these conditions effectively and quickly. Brachytherapy can also be used in other sites like the esophagus for esophageal cancers, and is commonly used for gynecologic malignancies such as cervix and endometrial cancer. Those are uses of temporary brachytherapy. We obtain a high degree of local control.
Current data shows the effectiveness of brachy therapy or seed implantation for prostate cancer.
Actually, data reveals superiority over external-beam radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy for men with localized prostate cancer. It modifies the radiation beam that comes out of the linear accelerator and cobalt machine to accurately reflect the target to be treated - again minimizing normal tissue irradiation. For the patient receiving external beam radiation therapy a treatment may last only ten minutes with the patient coming in, getting the treatment and returning to home or usual activities such as work. Skin marking and lasers help the therapists accurately reproduce the treatment field. The duration of actual exposure to the radiation beam usually lasts a minute or two.