We also know that if a person has a high degree of obstruction at the time of diagnosis, he shouldn t get a seed implant because he is likely to go into complete blockage. We know that if a patient has diffuse disease throughout the entire gland and 5 or 6 out of 6 of their biopsies are involved with cancer, then seed implant is not sufficient. If you were talking with a man recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, how would you recommend he go about making the decision on what course of treatment to have. He should educate himself on his treatment options. He should look for second opinions, rather than automatically trust the initial physician he sees.
Second opinions are critical.
The more information that a patient has at the time he makes a decision, the better off he will be. Having obtained that information, the patient should then speak to both a urologist and a radiation oncologist. Don t take one specialist s word for what the specialist does. Talk to both, so you can get a good sense of what s available out there. In choosing a person to give a permanent seed implant, you want someone who you trust, who you know will be readily available if you have any problems afterwards, and someone who has experience doing this.