Contracture usually occurs within the first three months after the operation, causing a sharp decrease in urinary stream. The condition can be treated by dilation or surgery on the bladder neck, and rarely recurs. When radiation is used as sole primary treatment, its five-year survival rate mirrors that for surgery. Radiation is also used for pain relief in advanced cancer that has spread to the bone. It allows high doses and, in a 1998 study significantly improved survival rates compared to lower dose therapy.
Implants can be temporary or permanent.
Temporary implants are usually accompanied by external-beam radiation. This procedure has less risk for incontinence and impotence than external-beam radiation or surgery unless the prostate has been inured or damaged or the bladder is easily irritated. In such cases, side effects with brachytherapy may be worse than with standard procedures. It should be pointed out that in those stages, nearly any treatment is effective, including watchful waiting. Men with more advanced cancer appear to have a much poorer outlook with brachytherapy than with the other, standard procedures.