Analysis of iodine-125 interstitial therapy in the treatment of localized carcinoma of the prostate.

Definitive treatment of localized carcinoma of the prostate has included radical surgery, external beam radiation therapy, and interstitial radiation therapy. The interstitial agent most commonly used is Iodine-125. Forty-eight patients were treated with interstitial radiation therapy using Iodine-125 implants with a median follow-up of 55 months. Forty-three percent of the evaluable patients had progressive disease with approximately 50% progressing at 5 years by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Overall actuarial survival in the group was 80% at 5 years. This and several other studies suggest that control of prostate cancer with Iodine-125 seeds may be suboptimal as compared with other treatment modalities, especially the radical retropubic prostatectomy. Analysis of treatment parameters is presented along with a discussion of the current status and future prospects for treatment of localized carcinoma of the prostate with interstitial radiation therapy.