NEW YORK (MedscapeWire) Apr 16 More than one-third of patients given brachytherapy for prostate cancer have migration of the radioactive seeds to their lungs, according to a retrospective review in the April issue of Urology.
"A thorough pulmonary workup failed to reveal any short-term harmful side effects; however, long-term follow-up is needed," write Murali K. Ankem, MD, from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues.
Of 83 patients who underwent prostate brachytherapy from 1998 to 2000, 58 patients had a chest x-ray 15 to 90 days later, which showed seed migration to the lungs in 21 patients (36.2%). Nine patients had single seed migration to the right lung and 3 to the left lung, and 9 patients had multiple (2-4) and bilateral seed migration.
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