The report includes data from 229 consecutive brachytherapy patients, the majority of whom had early-stage prostate cancer. All patients were treated with the OncoSeed brand of iodine-125 seeds. Prostate seed implant therapy, which is a type of brachytherapy, is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure in which radioactive seeds are implanted within the prostate, where they irradiate the tumor. Within days following the procedure, most patients are back to their everyday activities. Currently, one in four prostate patients is treated using seed implants.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men.
According to the National Cancer Institute, over 180,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, and nearly 32,000 men will die from the disease. An estimated 8 out of 10 men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over 65. Nycomed Amersham plc is a world leader in in-vivo diagnostic imaging and in life sciences.