After being refined in recent years, seed therapy is coming back strong. Patient survival statistics are promising, and some doctors believe it will soon become as common as surgery or beam radiation. The seeds, which remain permanently embedded, deliver a radioactive dose inside the gland for up to a year, burning out the prostate, and, hopefully, the cancer with it. A major benefit is that seed implants are much less invasive than surgery, requiring perhaps an overnight stay in the hospital. As with traditional radiation and surgery, the seeds may impair a man's continence and potency.
Some patients require corrective surgery to the rectum or urethra after treatment.
Jan Marfyaic, from Gettysburg, Pa., a former government worker, was 59 when he was diagnosed six years ago. It still has drawbacks. The urgency to urinate becomes part of your life. You start planning your activities around where the nearest bathroom is. If prostate cancer spreads beyond the gland, a man usually is considered incurable.